WUHAN - At least four people died and another four were injured after several houses in a suburban community in central China's Hubei province were buried in a landslide on Saturday morning.

The landslide struck Xuan'en County of Enshi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture at about 6:10 am. Local government confirmed that 11 people lived in one of the four houses while the rest three were unoccupied.

As of 9 pm, eight people have been rescued and rushed to hospital, but four of them died. Rescuers are still searching for the last three people who are still buried under the houses, the county government said.

Rescuers said they were struggling as large machinery cannot enter the site.

The site of the community is subject to regular geological monitoring because it is prone to such disasters, and an evacuation notice was issued on Friday night after a spell of heavy rain, according to officials.

The rain will continue in the region in the following days, according to the meteorological authorities.