GUANGZHOU -- Five missing people were confirmed dead after being washed away in a wild section of Huidong county, South China's Guangdong province, local authorities said on Sunday.

At around 8:22 pm on Friday, the public security bureau of Huidong received an alert reporting that five individuals, who had traveled to Baima Mountain in Baima village of Huidong county for recreational purposes, had been swept away by water and were missing.

After receiving the report, local authorities promptly organized rescue operations.

However, the rescue efforts faced significant difficulties due to complex terrain and the turbulent water flow, while the location of this incident is an undeveloped, unopened area considered hazardous due to a lack of safety measures. In addition, factors such as low nighttime visibility, numerous river undercurrents and continuous heavy rainfall in recent days had compounded rescue challenges, according to the county's emergency management bureau.

By approximately 2:15 pm on Sunday, all five missing people had been located and all of them had no vital signs. One of the deceased was 17 and the others were all adults.

A total of over 1,300 rescue personnel were dispatched during the search and rescue operations. Follow-up work is currently underway.