China hit by heavy rainfall
The heaviest rain to hit Beijing in six decades killed at least 10 people and left cars and buses submerged, and 10 other storm deaths were reported elsewhere..
The deluge struck on Saturday afternoon and continued into the night, flooding major roads. State media said more rain is expected on Sunday.
Over 500 flights were cancelled at the main airport, the Beijing News reported.
The rain on Saturday night knocked down trees in Beijing and trapped cars and buses in waist-deep water in some areas. In Tongzhou district on the capital’s eastern outskirts, two people were killed by collapsed roofs, one person was fatally struck by lightning and a fourth was electrocuted by a fallen power line as he helped neighbours escape, the government’s Xinhua News Agency said.
Elsewhere, six people were killed by rain-triggered landslides in Sichuan province in the west, Xinhua said, citing disaster officials.
Four people also died in the Shanxi province in the north when their truck was swept away by a rain-swollen river.
State news agency Xinhua said 460mm fell in the capital’s Fangshan district, with the capital as a whole averaging 170mm.
It said 14,500 people, mostly in outlying districts, had to be evacuated.
The Beijing News said they included 5,200 people who left areas in Fangshan that were vulnerable to landslides.
On Sunday, the government warned of more storms over the following 24 hours for China’s northeast, the port city of Tianjin east of Beijing, Inner Mongolia in the north, Sichuan and neighboring Yunnan province, and Guangdong and Hainan provinces in the southeast.
