FUZHOU - The death toll has risen to 22 and 17 people remain missing after a landslide hit Taining county in Sast China's Fujian province on Sunday, local authorities announced Monday afternoon.

As of 1 pm, 22 bodies had been found at the scene and two people who were on the missing list had been found alive and safe, authorities said.

The landslide occurred at about 5 am on Sunday in Taining county, where about 100,000 cubic meters of mud and rocks flowed downhill, burying a temporary shed at a hydropower station construction site and damaging its offices.

Heavy rain has made rescue work more difficult, and according to Zheng Guoen, deputy head of the provincial drought and flood control office, residents in the area need to be evacuated soon to avoid more geological disasters.