Floods, landslides kill 19 in northwest China

Nineteen people are killed and 37 missing after violent rainstorms triggered floods in northwest China, state media reported on Saturday.

Nineteen people were killed and 37 missing after violent rainstorms triggered floods in northwest China, state media reported Saturday.

HT Image

The rainstorms, which started to hit the southeastern part of Shaanxi province on Monday, destroyed homes and ruined crops, causing 280 million yuan (37 million dollars) in damages, a provincial flood control headquarters official told Xinhua news agency.

The latest deaths continue a devastating run of weather for China, with the Ministry of Civil Affairs reporting that natural disasters had left 712 people dead and 163 missing in July.

The death toll from natural disasters in the vast country in the first seven months of this year was 1,279, with another 239 missing, according to the ministry.