Torrential rainfall leaves six dead and 11 missing in Guangxi

Six people have died and 11 remain missing after exceptionally severe and prolonged torrential rainfall triggered by Typhoon Maysak, the 10th typhoon of the year, battered the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, a senior official said on Tuesday night.

The disaster has affected 375,000 people across 63 county-level regions in 14 cities. Authorities have evacuated and relocated 130,000 residents to safer areas, according to Cai Yunge, executive vice-chairman of the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, at a news conference.

Cai said 12,900 hectares of farmland have been damaged, while losses to other sectors are still being assessed.

So far, authorities have deployed 8,342 emergency responders, including personnel from fire and rescue services, militia units, public security, health authorities, power utilities, telecommunications operators, as well as China Anneng Construction Group. More than 1,700 engineering and rescue vehicles, along with over 5,700 boats, rescue vessels and other emergency equipment, have also been mobilized, Cai said.

In addition, more than 300 members from 40 social rescue teams, including the Red Cross, Blue Shield and Blue Sky Rescue, have been coordinated to carry out reservoir safety operations, search-and-rescue missions and urban flood drainage efforts, he added.