“He pulled up his wife, carried the child, and as they were running, they were tossed around by a massive roar of air, became caught in the mud and rocks and then fought their way out of danger,” China Central Television news reported, citing Mr. Qiao. The three were recovering in hospital, the broadcaster said.

An expert at the site said the landslide might have been caused by a buildup of rainfall under the surface of the steep hillside, apparently acting as a kind of lubricant that let a slab of earth slide down, a reporter for the newspaper People’s Daily said.

In a statement, President Xi Jinping ordered the rescue efforts to continue at full intensity, and he told other areas of the country to be on guard for signs of danger during the rainy season.

Initial Chinese news reports contained no suggestion that officials had been warned that the steep, thinly vegetated hillside could collapse. But the region has been rife with landslides and other geological hazards, and officials may be questioned about whether more could have been done to protect or move villagers.

An enormous earthquake in 2008 rippled across much of Sichuan Province and nearby areas, leaving about 90,000 people dead or missing and presumed dead. And in 1933, an earthquake in Mao County killed nearly 10,000 people, according to Chinese news reports.

The county government has issued repeated warnings in documents about the continued risks from landslides, and it has been involved in a program to identify areas at greatest risk. A county government directive issued late last year counted 769 places across the county vulnerable to landslides and similar hazards.