Mudslides kill 11 in southwest China, 14 missing

HONG KONG – Eleven people were killed and 14 others are still missing after mudslides swept through two villages in southwest China on Monday, July 21, following days of heavy rain, state news agency Xinhua reported.

Rescuers are working to retrieve people still buried after mudslides struck the villages in Yunnan province, the news agency said, citing local government.

Heavy downpours battering the mountainous province in recent days have caused several landslides, crushing houses, blocking roads and disrupting power supplies.

More than 1,100 rescuers were stranded trying to reach the village of Huna in Dehong, western Yunnan, where a mudslide early Monday killed 10 people, Xinhua reported.

“Victims are badly in need of relief supplies including tents and waterproof clothing,” it cited local authorities as saying at a disaster relief meeting.

Tents, bags of rice and generators have been sent to the area, it said.

Disasters sparked by this year’s flooding season have left more than 140 people dead or missing across Yunnan, the provincial meteorological bureau was cited by the agency as saying.

The death toll from Typhoon Rammasun – the strongest storm to hit China in decades — reached 17 on Sunday after it battered Guangxi province and Hainan island packing winds exceeding 200 kilometers (124 miles) an hour. – Rappler.com