19 killed in fresh floods in China
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At least 19 people were killed in fresh floods in western China, even as the death toll in the massive mudslide in the northwest Gansu province rose to 1,144 with still 600 people missing, officials said on Friday. Heavy rains lashed some areas of Gansu, Sichuan and Shaanxi provinces, destroying homes, inundating croplands, and disrupting traffic and telecommunications, state-run Xinhua news agency reported. In Longnan, Gansu, 10 people have died, 12 are missing, and 10,000 are trapped by floodwaters, the Longnan municipal government said in a statement. Local authorities are evacuating residents and have dispatched tents, instant noodles, bottled water, quilts and pans to the disaster-hit areas, the government said. In Tianshui in Gansu province, four people lost their lives and eight are missing due to heavy floods, the local government said. In Mianzhu, Sichuan, mudslides have left five people dead and 500 others trapped in the rural mountainous areas, a spokesman with the municipal government said. Government staff, troops and factory workers have been mobilised to help evacuate the disaster-stricken residents, the spokesman said. Meanwhile, authorities said the death toll from the mudslide in Gansu province has risen to 1,444. Six hundred people are still missing after the disaster in Zhouqu, which levelled an area five kilometres long and 300 metres wide. In Weinan, Shaanxi, floods have affected some 100,000 people and forced an evacuation of 4,600 residents. More than 4,800 homes were destroyed or damaged, a spokesman with the Weinan Municipal Civil Affairs Bureau said. Meteorological authorities have warned of more heavy rains in the coming days in Gansu's Zhouqu County. Over a thousand people were killed and hundreds have gone missing in the rain related floods and landslides since early this year in China.
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