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30 killed, dozens missing in China floods

19 September 2011 17:59 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. At least 30 people have been killed and dozens of others have gone missing after torrential rains and flooding in north and southwest China that forced thousands to leave their homes, APA reports quoting Press TV.

Heavy rain that started on Friday has swamped huge portions of southwestern province of Sichuan, killing 13 people and leaving 10 others missing.

Authorities of cities of Dazhou and Guang’an in Sichuan have ordered the evacuation of nearly 600,000, Xinhua reported on Monday.

The toll from the massive rain-triggered landslide in the province of Shaanxi, north of Sichuan, has risen to at least 17 dead and 18 missing.

Rain has stopped in Shaanxi and rescue efforts are continuing, officials from Shaanxi’s capital city of Xi’an said.

Floods have left 57 people dead and 29 others missing in Henan, Shaanxi and Sichuan provinces and forced the evacuation of more than 1.2 million people, China’s Ministry of Civil Affairs said in a statement on Monday.

The heavy rains that have destroyed 50,800 hectares of crops and damaged 129,000 houses across the three provinces have cost the country’s economy about $2.7 billion, the ministry said.