At least 15 people have died in southwestern China and four are reported missing, following torrential rains in the country’s southwest, the Xinhua news agency reported on Wednesday.
The rains “killed 15 people and caused the disappearance of four in the municipality of Chongqing, in southwest China,” according to a report by local authorities, cited by the agency.
The confirmation of the existence of victims came a day after the meteorological services warned of possible catastrophes caused by the rains, which hit a large part of central and southwestern China, at the same time that temperature records were broken.
Chinese President Xi Jinping “stressed that key officials at all levels should take the lead in fighting floods, putting the safety of people and property first and striving to minimize losses,” Xinhua added.
In a sign of the extent of the damage, a railway bridge partially collapsed due to rain on Tuesday in Chongqing, a provincial city with a population of 31 million, Xinhua reported.
In neighboring Sichuan province, more than 460,000 people have been affected by torrential rains this week, the agency added Tuesday.
According to the authorities, around 85,000 people were evacuated from their homes due to the rains, and “flash floods in mountainous areas” and “possible landslides in some places” are expected this week.
Source: TSF
