Beijing:

At least 30 people are dead and 35 are missing in central China, state media reported Thursday, following days of torrential rain that lashed the country earlier this week.

The downpours were triggered by Typhoon Gaemi, which moved on from the Philippines and Taiwan to make landfall in eastern China a week ago, with hilly, landlocked Hunan province hit particularly hard.

More than 11,000 people had been evacuated from the city of Zixing after some areas endured record rainfall of 645 millimetres (25 inches) in just 24 hours, state news agency Xinhua reported on Tuesday.

Many roads connecting townships in the Zixing area were temporarily cut off by the extreme weather, which also affected the power supply and communications infrastructure.

On Thursday, state broadcaster CCTV said that “the roads, electricity and communications in eight towns in Zixing city that were most severely affected by Typhoon Gaemi have basically opened”.

“Initial findings show that there have been 30 deaths and 35 are missing,” the report said, adding that search and rescue efforts were still ongoing.

On Tuesday Xinhua said four people had been killed and three people were missing in Zixing.

Three people were killed in Hunan’s Yongxing county, Xinhua said Tuesday, while a landslide on Sunday killed 15 people elsewhere in the province.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

China bridge collapse: A view of the bridge that was damaged due to heavy storms and flooding, in Zhashui County in Shangluo City, northwest China’s Shaanxi Province, onJuly 20, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AP

“Eleven people are dead and more than 30 remain missing after a bridge in northern China collapsed amid torrential rains,” state broadcaster CCTV reported on July 20.

“The bridge over a river in Shaanxi province’s Shangluo collapsed at around 8.40 p.m. on July 19 (1240 GMT) “due to a sudden downpour and flash floods”,” official news agency Xinhua said, citing the provincial public relations department.

“Nearly 20 vehicles and more than 30 people” remained missing after the highway bridge collapsed into the river below,” CCTV said. “All 11 confirmed victims were found inside five vehicles that had so far been recovered from the water,” the broadcaster said.

Images on state TV showed a partially submerged section of the bridge with the river rushing over it. Large portions of northern and central China have been battered since Tuesday by rains that have caused flooding and significant damage.

On July 19, state media reported that at least five people dead and eight missing after the rains sparked flooding and mudslides in Shaanxi’s Baoji city.

State television broadcast images of neighbourhoods completely flooded by muddy water, with excavators and residents attempting to clear the damage.

Extreme weather

The semi-desert province of Gansu, which neighbours Shaanxi and Henan in central China, was also hit by heavy rains this week. In the Henan city of Nanyang, the equivalent of a year’s worth of rain poured at the start of the week, according to CCTV.

China is enduring a summer of extreme weather, with heavy rains across the east and south coming as much of the north has sweltered in successive heat waves.

In May, a highway in southern China collapsed after days of rain, leaving 48 dead. Earlier this month, a tornado passed through a town in eastern China killing one, injuring 79 and causing significant damage.