At least 127 people have been killed and 2,000 are missing after mudslides swept away homes and destroyed roads in northwestern China.
China is battling the worst flooding in a decade but deep rivers of sludge are hampering rescue efforts.
Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao has travelled to the devastated region in Gansu province where more than 20,000 people have left their homes.
Authorities have sent nearly 3,000 soldiers and about 100 medics to help in search and rescue efforts after the landslides, which were caused by heavy rain yesterday.
At least 50,000 people have been affected by floods, which have submerged half of Zhouqu county, the official Xinhua news agency said.
The landslides swept mud, houses and other debris into a river flowing through the county.
State television broadcast images of local residents walking through mud-choked streets and pictures of buildings swept off their foundations and vehicles partly submerged by muddy water.
Other images showed soldiers shovelling mud as they searched for the thousands still missing.
President Hu Jintao and Mr Wen urged rescuers to spare no effort to save lives in the latest natural disaster to strike the country.
Reports said 70 people were also injured in the landslides.
Torrential rains that started yesterday have now stopped, but the local weather bureau has forecast more heavy rain in the upper reaches of the Bailong River for Tuesday and Wednesday.
