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Dozens killed or missing as south China hit by storms and floods

This article is more than 12 months old

BEIJING : Floods and mudslides in south China have uprooted hundreds of thousands of people and left dozens dead or missing, state media reported yesterday.

The weather has wreaked havoc on tourist areas already reeling from travel restrictions during the Covid-19 crisis.

Torrential downpours unleashed floods and mudslides that caused nearly 230,000 people to be relocated and destroyed more than 1,300 houses, state news agency Xinhua reported.

In the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, six people were reported dead and one missing, Xinhua said. Streets were waterlogged in tourist destination Yangshuo, forcing people to evacuate on bamboo rafts.

The local government said more than 1,000 hotels were flooded.

The Emergency Management Ministry said there were direct economic losses of over four billion yuan (S$785 million) from the flooding, Xinhua reported.

In Hunan province, at least 13 people were killed in rain-triggered disasters, and another eight people are missing or dead in south-western Guizhou province, reported Xinhua.

Meanwhile, Beijing confirmed a new coronavirus case yesterday, the first in the capital in nearly two months.

The 52-year-old said he had not left the city or been in contact with anyone who travelled from overseas in the last two weeks. - REUTERS, AFP

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