On January 22, 2024, a landslide struck Liangshui village in Zhenxiong county, Zhaotong, Yunnan. China Daily reported that by the evening of January 23, more than 1,000 rescuers, 81 rescue dogs and over 150 pieces of heavy machinery were involved in the search. A Xinhua photo recorded handlers and dogs searching the landslide area.

Zhenxiong county, Zhaotong, Yunnan, China

A mountain village interrupted

On January 22, 2024, a landslide struck Liangshui village in Tangfang town, Zhenxiong county, Zhaotong, Yunnan, burying or leaving missing a number of villagers. The disaster took place in a winter mountain area, where rescuers faced low temperatures, difficult terrain and continuing snow.

China Daily reported that by the evening of January 23, the death toll had risen to 31. Local government, firefighting, medical, communications and engineering teams continued the response, while geological experts monitored the site for secondary risks.

Eighty-one rescue dogs

The same report said more than 1,000 rescuers, 81 rescue dogs and over 150 pieces of heavy machinery were involved. The number shows that dogs at a major disaster site were not symbolic companions; they were part of the search deployment.

A Xinhua image shows rescuers handling dogs in the landslide area. The dogs did not replace human judgment. Their scent work helped teams search for possible signs of life across a wide field of mud, stone and debris.

Working in cold and unstable terrain

AP also reported that the rescue took place in freezing weather. For the dogs, that meant slippery earth, rocks and collapsed material underfoot, complicated scents in the air and long hours of physical strain.

This record should not reduce 81 dogs to a number. Every working dog that entered the scene did its job in a dangerous, unstable and grieving place.

Why this record matters

The Liangshui village response shows the scale of animal labor in public disaster rescue. These dogs were not a corner of a news image or a decorative emotional element. They were a capability actually called into the rescue system.

GAM records this case to give the unnamed dogs a public place. They walked into mud and debris with human rescuers, and they should be remembered with the rescue effort.

Timeline

• January 22, 2024 A landslide struck Liangshui village in Zhenxiong county, Zhaotong, Yunnan.
• January 23, 2024 China Daily reported that more than 1,000 rescuers, 81 rescue dogs and over 150 pieces of heavy machinery were involved.
• January 23, 2024 A Xinhua photo recorded rescuers handling dogs while searching the landslide area.

Public Sources

• China Daily: Death toll rises to 31 in Yunnan landslide
• AP: Rescuers search in freezing weather after China landslide