29 people killed as heavy rain lashes north China

Beijing: At least 29 people were killed, including 14 in a bus accident, as relentless rains triggered massive flooding in north China, authorities said on Tuesday.

Fifteen people have been killed and three others went missing in continuous rain storms that hit north China’s Shanxi Province, which also displaced over 1.20 lakh people, the local government said.

In a separate incident, 14 people were killed when a bus plunged into the rushing river in Pingshan county, Shijiazhuang on Monday.

From October 2 to 7, Shanxi experienced the strongest autumn flood on record. Continuous rainfall has affected nearly 1.76 million residents in 76 county-level regions across the province, and 120,100 people have been



relocated. 

About 238,460 hectares of crops have been damaged and 37,700 houses collapsed or seriously damaged, causing direct economic losses to the tune of 5.03 billion yuan (USD 780 million), state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

The largely arid province, Shanxi, has reported more than five times its usual rainfall since the start of the month, resulting in the destruction of dams and rail lines, reports said. Shanxi, a major coal producer, has also shut 60 coal mines, adding to concerns over supplies of the fuel as China struggles with power cuts.

Till Monday, the disaster had caused the suspension of 530 high-voltage lines of 10 kV and above, and 332,700 households had lost power, reports said.