Floods toll in China mounts to 168, Tibet rail links disrupted

Floods and landslides continue to take a heavy toll in China as 168 people were killed and 187 missing during the past 11 days of torrential rain in northwest China's Shaanxi province which also disrupted train services to Tibet.

At least 52 people were killed and another 20 missing in rain-triggered floods in central China's Henan province today. Torrential rain hit the mountainous regions in the west and southern part of the province, leading to heavy casualties in three cities -- Luoyang, Nanyang and Sanmenxia, official media reports here said.

Among the casualties, 37 killed were from Luoyang city, an ancient capital and home to the World Heritage Site Longmen Grottoes.

In another incident, 11 people went missing and another 11 were injured after a landslide triggered by rain today in southwest China's Nujiang Lisu Autonomous Prefecture in Yunnan province.

The landslide happened at 00:30 a.m. in Gongshan Drung-Nu Autonomous county.

About 62 rescue workers were at the scene searching for the 11 missing, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

Flood-hit Hanjiang River and its tributaries worsened the situation Shaanxi's Ankang, Hanzhong, and Shangluo which were reeling under heavy rains since July 14.

Another flood that began on Thursday worsened the catastrophe, report said today.

The floods have affected about 4.25 million people and forced 703,000 people to be evacuated.

In the worst-hit Ankang city, 63 people were killed, 119 missing and 2,824 injured, according to a statement from the provincial government.

The floods also caused an estimated economic loss of 9.56 billion yuan.

Officials noted that more than 71,000 people were mobilised to assist in the flood county. More than 750 were killed in floods all over China since beginning of this year and official media here stated the death toll could cross 1,000. The floods have caused $23 billion worth of damage.

Meanwhile the Three Gorges Dam, regarded as the world biggest, faced yet another test for its strength as it received record high quantity of waters from the country’s longest Yangtze River on which it was built.

Flood flow is set to peak again today at the dam on the swollen Yangtze, forcing the water levels at the reservoir to surge again.