Authorities in the inland Chinese province of Sichuan say last week's landslides at a construction site has left four people dead and 48 others missing. They have also detained five people for initially underreporting the number of missing people.

China's state-run Xinhua news agency and other media outlets report that rainstorms triggered a flash flood at a highway construction site in Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture on August 21. Workers were caught in the disaster.

Initial reports said 79 people were rescued and search efforts for six missing people were underway at the site.

But local authorities said on Wednesday people in charge of the construction work deliberately underreported the number of missing people.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has ordered all-out efforts to find the missing people and for a thorough investigation at the site.

In July, a Communist Party newspaper carried an article highlighting Xi's achievements in flood control projects.

But after that, floods and landslides occurred in the country's north and northeast, caused by record rainfalls.

nhk