34 killed in China floods; 93 remain missing in landslide

Beijing, June 26

At least 34 people have been killed in floods triggered by days’ long heavy rain, while 93 others remained missing in a massive landslide, forcing evacuation of over 4.50 lakh people in southwest China.

Over 3,000 rescuers are searching for 93 people still buried under rocks and mud by a landslide in southwest China’s Sichuan Province, authorities said.

The landslide engulfed 62 homes in Xinmo village in Maoxian County in the Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture of Aba on Saturday morning, blocking a two kilometre section of river and burying 1,600 metres of road.

Ten people have been confirmed dead and 15 people had been taken off the list of missing as they were not in Xinmo village when the disaster struck, said Xu Zhiwen, deputy chief of Aba prefecture.

Only three people from one family were rescued hours after the landslide. The chance of survival for the missing ones is low, rescuers said.

Rain-triggered disasters have also left at least 22 people dead and six missing in provinces of Jiangxi, Guizhou, Hunan, Yunnan and Anhui.

Meanwhile in Jianxi, heavy rain which started to lash on Thursday has affected 1.8 million people and forced 2.70 lakh people to be relocated to safe places in 47 counties and districts, the provincial flood control authorities said.

Flash floods and landslides have left six people dead and three others missing in Jiangxi.

The rain is forecast to weaken on Monday and Tuesday but to get heavier again on Wednesday and Thursday.

In Guizhou, nine people were killed and two remained missing after torrential rain pounded the region over the past few days. Heavy rain also damaged 35,418 hectares of crops and inflicted a direct economic loss of 610 million yuan (USD 89 million dollars).

In Hunan, 1.51 lakh  people were evacuated and 642 small and medium-sized reservoirs overflowed in wake of the largest rainfall this year.

Three people of a family in Luxi County of Hunan were found dead in a landslide that occurred on Saturday.

The water in 14 rivers along the Yangtze River valley has risen above warning levels and heavy rains in the coming few days could further raise the water level in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, the Changjiang Water Resources Commission said yesterday. PTI