BEIJING: Fourteen people were killed and five are missing following a landslide in southwestern China's Sichuan province on Sunday, the local government said.

The landslide "took place high on a mountain" at 6 am (2200 GMT) at a state-owned forestry station in Jinkouhe, near the city of Leshan, the local government said in an online statement.

"As of 3:30 pm, the remains of 14 victims have been recovered, while five people remain missing," the statement said.

Authorities sent over 180 people and more than a dozen pieces of rescue and recovery equipment to the site, according to the statement.

Landslide hits large part of Balochistan-KP highway

"Currently, search and rescue work is urgently underway," it said.The site is in a mountainous region about 240 kilometres (150 miles) from the provincial capital of Chengdu.

Remote and densely forested, the area is prone to natural disasters including landslides and earthquakes.