UPDATED 7.30am

Crews searching the rubble left by a landslide that buried a mountain village under tonnes of soil and rocks in southwestern China have found 15 bodies, but about 100 more people remain missing.

Xinhua, the official news agency, reported that about 1000 rescuers were using detection devices and dogs to look for signs of life in an area that once held 62 homes and a hotel.

"We won't give up as long as there is a slim of chance," the agency quoted an unidentified searcher as saying.

Three members of one family were located five hours after the landslide. Qiao Dashuai, 26, said he and his wife awoke to cries from their month-old son around 5.30am on Saturday.

"Just after we changed the diaper for the baby, we heard a big bang outside and the light went out," said Qiao.

"We felt that something bad was happening and immediately rushed to the door, but the door was blocked by mud and rocks."

Qiao told CCTV his family was swept away by water as part of a mountain collapsed. He said they struggled against the flood of water until they met medical workers who took them to a hospital. His parents and other relatives were among the missing.

The provincial government said more than 120 people were buried by the landslide.

The landslide blocked a 2km section of a river. The provincial government said on its website that an estimated 8 million cubic metres of earth and rock - equivalent to more than 3000 Olympic-sized swimming pools - slid down the mountain.

Experts told CCTV that the landslide was likely triggered by rain.