Fourteen people are killed and five are missing following landslide in southwest China

Fourteen people have been killed and five are missing following a landslide in southwestern China's Sichuan province.

The landslide 'took place high on a mountain' at 6am local time on Sunday 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.

'Currently, search and rescue work is urgently underway,' it said.

A look at Leshan's giant buddha surrounded by forestry in 2020, which is near to wear the landslide occurred in Jinkouhe, China

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.