KUNMING - Six people have died and 25 remain missing after rain-triggered mudslides hit two villages in southwest China's Yunnan Province early on Wednesday, said local authorities.

In Shawa Village, Fugong County, a mudslide destroyed a silicon mining site at around 3 a.m., leaving 17 people missing and another injured, said Li Hongwen, the county's Communist Party chief who is overseeing rescue work.

In a difficult operation, more than 140 rescuers, along with excavators, fire trucks and ambulances, are searching the site about 500 meters from the Nujiang River.

Some of the missing people may have been swept into the river, while others may be buried under the thick mud and rock debris, Li said.

Another mudslide ravaged residential houses at Minzhu Village, Yunlong County, at around 2 a.m., killing six people and leaving eight others missing, according to the civil affairs bureau of Bai Autonomous Prefecture of Dali, which administers Yunlong.

Rescue efforts for the two disasters are under way.