CHINA> Regional
14 people missing in landslides in quake-hit area
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-09-24 11:20

BEICHUAN, Sichuan -- Fourteen people have gone missing in the wake of landslides triggered by heavy rain in the quake-hit Beichuan County of Sichuan Province in southwest China, a local official said on Wednesday.

Some villagers in Leigu town have also been injured, said Zuo Daifu, a county official in charge the reconstruction of Beichuan. The town received 104 mm of rain between 8 a.m. Tuesday and 7 a.m. Wednesday.

Heavy rain totaling 194 mm during the period also hit the Tangjiashan area, blocking the sluice of the dangerous Tangjiashan quake lake and raising its water level by five meters.

Beichuan is one of the worst hit area in the devastating earthquake on May 12. The county seat was almost flattened in the quake.