Eighteen children and one adult have been buried in a school in the village of Zhenhe, in the Yunnan Province south west China, after a landslide engulfed a primary school.

According to the Xinhua news agency, the landslide spanned around 10,000 cubic meters and completely consumed the Youfang Primary School. An adult was also trapped when two houses in the village were toppled, although a family of three luckily managed to escape. Rescue teams have been sent to the site, and nearby residents have been moved to a safer area.

Tragically the students were not supposed to be in school, as China, is in the middle of a week-long annual national holiday. And they were studying to make up for lost classes, caused by the earthquakes that took place on 7 September.

The incident mirrors a landslide that took place in Aberfan, Wales, in 1966. After heavy rain, a slag heap collapsed and destroyed the school, killing 116 children and 28 adults.

Written and presented by Ann Salter