Landslide in China leaves 21 missing

Twenty-one people are missing after a rain-triggered landslide swept through villages in China today, local authorities said, in the country's latest weather-related disaster.

Twenty-one people are missing after a rain-triggered landslide swept through villages in China on Tuesday, local authorities said, in the country's latest weather-related disaster.

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The villagers disappeared when the landslide hit the southwestern province of Sichuan, destroying or damaging dozens of houses, the local government said on its website.

The disaster struck in Hanyuan county near the city of Ya'an.

Weeks of torrential rain across huge areas of China, mainly in the country's southern half, have caused repeated deadly landslides and triggered the nation's worst flooding in a decade.

The rain has killed at least 823 people and left 437 missing this year, according to the latest official figures announced on Monday.