Rainstorms cause 65 deaths in China

BEIJING - Rainstorms have killed 65 people and left 30 others missing in eight provincial-level regions since June 28, the Ministry of Civil Affairs said Monday.

The downpours have triggered floods and landslides that have affected 17.44 million people in Jiangsu, Anhui and Shandong provinces in East China, Henan and Hubei provinces in Central China, Chongqing Municipality and Sichuan province in Southwest China and Shaanxi province in Northwest China, the ministry said, adding that 1.17 million people have been evacuated.

About 982,400 hectares of farmland have been affected by bad weathers and about 66,000 houses have collapsed, the ministry said.

The ministry has sent three teams of experts and officials to aid in relief work in affected regions, as well as shipped tents and quilts to hard-hit Sichuan, the ministry said.

In another Monday report, the ministry said 465 people were killed and 97 missing in natural disasters in the first half of this year.

More than 113.36 million people were affected by natural disasters during the period, the report said.

Floods, hail and landslides had the greatest impact on people, followed by droughts, earthquakes, snowstorms and typhoons, the report said.