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Death toll in south China landslides climbs to 38

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-06-03 07:27

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The death toll from rain-triggered landslides in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region has climbed to 38 as of Thursday, local authorities said.

 

 

A farmer wades through his flooded farmland in Qiaogong township, Laibin city, South China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, June 2, 2010. [Photo/Xinhua]

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NANNING - The death toll from rain-triggered landslides has risen to 30 in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region after 10 more bodies were recovered, local authorities said Wednesday.

Rescuers are still searching for 18 people buried by the landslides, officials said at a regional teleconference on flood relief in hard-hit Cenxi City.

Heavy rains began pounding Guangxi Monday, triggering landslides early Wednesday that left 12 people dead in Cenxi and 15 dead in Rongxian county. The other three dead were in Tengxian County, Donglan County and Fangchenggang City.

Malu township in Cenxi recorded a rainfall of 230 mm in 12 hours through 8 a.m. Wednesday.

Senior local officials, including regional Communist Party chief Guo Shengkun, have arrived at the flooded regions to coordinate rescue efforts.

By 6 p.m. Wednesday, rainstorms had pounded 27 county-level regions, forcing the evacuation of 79,600 people and causing direct economic losses of more than 700 million yuan (102.5 million U.S. dollars).

In addition, the floods had destroyed 4,226 houses and 117,280 hectares of crops, according to the regional civil affairs bureau.