Torrential rain leaves 9 dead, 1 missing in SW China

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CHENGDU -- Nine people are dead and one remains missing after torrential rain hit Sichuan and Guizhou provinces in Southwest China, authorities said Saturday.

In Sichuan, seven people are dead and another missing after rain triggered flooding and landslides since Friday, provincial civil affairs authorities said in a statement.

Torrential rain has affected 165,000 people in 35 county-level areas, with more than 6,800 residents evacuated, the statement said.

Over 4,300 hectares of crops have been damaged, of which 700 hectares were destroyed, it said.

In Guizhou, two people were buried when a house collapsed in Qianxi Township in the city of Bijie late Friday. The two bodies were recovered from the debris around 6 am Saturday, according to a spokesperson with the local government.

Several townships in the district received more than 100 mm of rainfall within six hours. The local weather bureau issued a red alert, the highest in China's four-tier warning system, for heavy rain on Friday.

Disaster relief materials including tents, blankets and rice have been delivered to the affected townships.