China floods leave 200 dead or missing

BEIJING - Heavy rain has triggered floods and mudslides in southern China, leaving at least 200 people dead or missing, a resident and state media said.

Torrential rain hit a mountainous region of Hunan province in the early hours on Wednesday and 22 people died in floods, the official Xinhua news agency said. Two officials were killed during rescue work.

Thirty-five people, including five students, were missing, Xinhua said.

However, a local resident with knowledge of the casualties and damage said at least 200 people died or were missing after torrential rains hit Xinshao and Lianyuan counties, Shaoyang city and three other cities in Hunan province since Tuesday.

"Villagers, cadres and rescuers were washed away by floods," the resident, who asked not to be identified, told Reuters.

"More than 10,000 people were left homeless after their homes were either washed away, flooded or toppled," he said.

Mountain torrents in Xinshao were the worst in the county's history, Xinhua said.

At least 47 villages were devastated by the torrents and 54,600 villagers affected, Xinhua quoted Shen Guirong, director of the county government's publicity department, as saying.

About 3560 homes were destroyed, Shen said, and electricity and telecommunications services were cut off in some villages.

Crops, bridges and roads were destroyed.

Taizimiao village was the worst hit and the local government scrambled to build temporary bridges to rescue stranded villagers, Shen said.

A local official reached by telephone estimated damage to property at over 2 billion yuan ($344.92 million).

People's Liberation Army soldiers were mobilised to help with rescue work, residents said.

"We'll be working overtime all night," said a rescue centre official in Taizimiao, who gave his surname as Zhu.

A local weather bureau official reached by telephone said heavy rainfall caused the floods.

"Rainfall in the first half of this year was not a historic high but it was too heavy in a short period of time," the official said.

In southwestern Guizhou province, a thunderstorm triggered flooding and landslides killing 12 people and injuring dozens, state radio said.

Parts of China are hit by summer floods annually.

- REUTERS