The death toll from a mudslide last week in China’s northwestern Shaanxi province has risen to four, state radio said on Sunday, as the country grapples with unusually high summer rainfall.
State-owned China Central Television (CCTV) had earlier reported that Friday’s mudslide in the city of Xian, which followed heavy rainfall in the region, left a total of 18 people dead or missing, with two confirmed casualties.
A video released by the official Xinhua news agency showed broken trees and rubble piling up along muddy roads in a village that lies in a mountainous area, with houses and infrastructure damaged or destroyed.
Rescue work was underway, with 81 people and 11 vehicles deployed at the site，the state radio report said.
TYPHOON WEAKENS
Meanwhile, Typhoon Khanun weakened into a tropical depression when it made landfall in China’s Liaoning province on Friday night.
While it has since dissipated, residual rainfall over the rugged terrain of the northeastern province still poses flooding risks to low-lying cities including Liaoning province’s Anshan, where 17,859 people have been evacuated from at-risk areas, according to CCTV.
Overnight rainfall in Liaoning peaked at 52 millimetres (2 inches) per hour, with four reservoirs exceeding flood limits, CCTV said.
China’s State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters and the Ministry of Emergency Management held a special meeting on Sunday morning to discuss flood prevention and emergency response measures in badly affected provinces such as Liaoning, Shaanxi, Tianjin and Chongqing, CCTV reported.
Khanun comes as the country reels from the impact of Typhoon Doksuri, which lashed northern China with torrential rain and flooding after it made landfall on July 28.
Warmer temperatures have also fuelled powerful convective weather in many parts of China amid an unusually wet summer.
On Saturday morning, a dramatic supercell storm formed in China’s northwestern region of Xinjiang. A video posted by state media People’s Daily showed thick swirling clouds hanging low above the ground, darkening the sky.
“The force of nature is irresistible,” one commentator exclaimed on the video.