87 killed, 178 missing in China rain, landslides

Beijing: At least 87 people have been killed and 178 others missing as floods and landslides triggered by torrential rain hit China, local authorities said on Sunday.

Heavy rains since last week have caused 24 deaths, left four people missing in northern Shaanxi Province, the provincial civil affairs department said. Over 620,000 people had been affected in the province, it added. Central authorities have dispatched disaster survey and relief teams to rainstorm-hit regions in Shanxi Province and northwest Shaanxi Province, the Ministry of Civil Affairs said in a statement. Rain-triggered disasters have also caused 1.63 billion yuan (USD 265.8 million) in direct economic losses, it said. In Shaanxi, torrential rain had killed four people and affected 8.40 lakh, according to the province`s civil affairs department. Meanwhile, typhoon Soulik moved further inland to eastern Jiangxi Province today after lashing southeastern Fujian Province bringing downpours and strong gales to the region. The seventh typhoon to hit Chinese mainland this year, Soulik entered Jiangxi this morning bringing precipitation as high as 200 mm within five hours and winds of 64.8 km per hour. Sixteen counties and cities in Jiangxi had over 100 mm of precipitation, the Xinhua report said. The National Meteorological Center (NMC) said today the typhoon has gradually weakened after moving inland, but heavy rain and strong winds will continue to pummel some parts of China. PTI