Paramilitary police officers help transfer an elderly resident affected by the flood following heavy rainfall in Wuping county of Longyan, Fujian province, China June 17, 2024.
| Photo Credit: REUTERS

Six people have been found with no signs of life after going missing a week ago during landslides caused by heavy rainfall in China’s southeastern province of Fujian, state television CCTV reported on June 22.

Rescue workers found them after extensive searches since losing contact with the victims on Sunday, CCTV said.

Unusually heavy rains have hit southern China after an early start to the annual flooding season.

The death toll reached 38 on June 21 in Meizhou city in China’s southern Guangdong province, where downpours led to flash floods and mudslides that destroyed thousands of low-rise houses and damaged roads and crops, CCTV said.

This aerial photo taken on April 22, 2024 shows a general view of flooded buildings and streets after heavy rains in Qingyuan city, in China’s southern Guangdong province.
| Photo Credit: AFP

Heavy rainstorms that swept across southern China over the weekend killed at least four people in riverside cities, while a search was underway for 10 others missing, state media said Monday.

The official Xinhua news agency said three people died in Zhaoqing city while one rescuer died in Shaoguan city. It didn’t say when or how they died.

The two cities in Guangdong province are among the worst hit areas of sustained torrential rains that began late last week.

Footage on state broadcaster CCTV showed rescuers in rubber boats evacuating residents from inundated shopping streets and residential areas.

By Monday, about 110,000 people had been evacuated across the province, while 25,800 people were in emergency shelters, according to Xinhua.

In Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong province, the government said that as of 10 a.m. (0200GMT) on Monday, the city had logged a cumulative rainfall of 60.9 centimeters (24 inches) in April — the highest monthly rainfall since record-keeping began in 1959.

China’s Central Meteorological Observatory extended a rainstorm warning through Tuesday evening, with heavy rain expected in large swaths of southern China, including parts of the Guangxi region and Guangdong and Fujian provinces.

Floods also battered neighboring Jiangxi province. CCTV, citing the Jiangxi Provincial Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters, said 459 people had been evacuated. Rains and floods have affected 1,500 hectares of crops in the province and caused financial losses of more than 41 million yuan ($5.7 million).