Landslides triggered by floods have killed at least 40 people in western China, destroyed hundreds of homes and forced the evacuation of thousands of people.
One of the heaviest downpours to pound Ya'an city in southwestern Sichuan province in more than six decades brought landslides last week killing 19 people, the semi-official China News Service said yesterday. Two people were missing.
Storms over the past week triggered flash floods in 32 counties in northwestern Shaanxi province, killing 21 people and leaving nine missing, the China Dailysaid.
Both provinces are expecting more rain.
Floods caused damage to property in Shaanxi estimated at 550 million yuan, the newspaper said, adding roads, bridges, power facilities, buildings and farmland had been destroyed.
About 12,000 villagers were evacuated from Shaanxi's Ningshaan county - the worst hit region - before floods buried 300 buildings and destroyed another 300 homes, it said.
About 10,000 soldiers and villagers battled the floods as local health authorities moved in to try to prevent any epidemic.