Briefly

ANHUI

12 killed after pickup truck plunges off cliff

Twelve people died when a pickup truck carrying 14 people plunged over a cliff in Taihu county, Anhui province, on Sunday, the local government said. The accident happened around 2:30 pm. Eleven people died at the site, with another dying later due to serious injuries. The two other people are hospitalized and in stable condition. An investigation into the cause of the accident is underway.

GANSU

Over 19.5 billion yuan invested in restoration

Northwest China's Gansu province has invested 19.5 billion yuan ($3.02 billion) in the ecological restoration and sustainable development of the Qilian Mountains since 2017, the provincial government said. The money has been used in areas including grassland protection, wetland protection, soil and water conservation, glacier protection, forest restoration and environmental management for the mining industry. The Qilian Mountains ecosystem once suffered serious damage due to the overexploitation of mineral resources, illegal construction, the operation of hydropower facilities and excessive emissions by local enterprises.

BEIJING

Authorities on guard against Yangtze flood

Chinese authorities have called for rigorous anti-flooding measures along the Yangtze River as water levels continue to rise following heavy rainfall, the Ministry of Water Resources said on Monday. The first official flood peak of the Yangtze has formed in its upper reach with the flow of water at the Three Gorges reservoir reaching 54,000 cubic meters per second at 2 pm on Monday, meeting the criteria. The ministry has called for more anti-flooding measures at the Three Gorges reservoir and other main projects along the river.

SHANXI

Rare wooden tomb guardians discovered

Chinese archaeologists have unearthed three wooden tomb guardian figures dating back around 1,500 years in Shanxi province. The figures, rare for their wooden material, were found among the grave goods in a tomb from the Northern Wei Dynasty (386-534), the Datong Institute of Archaeology said. They include two human figures, one 54 centimeters tall and the other 60 cm, and a monster figure that is 48 cm long.

Xinhua