Flash floods kill at least 10 people and leave 33 missing in northwestern China

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BEIJING (AP) — Heavy rains in northwestern China caused flash flooding that killed at least 10 people and left 33 missing in Yuzhong County area of Gansu province, Chinese state media reported Friday.

The rains also caused at least one landslide in mountainous areas near the city of Lanzhou, according to state broadcaster CCTV. The downpour knocked out power and telecommunications services in the Xinglong Mountain area, stranding more than 4,000 people across four villages.

Three people were missing after a landslide in the village of Maliantan in Yuzhong County late Thursday.

Maximum rainfall in the area had reached 195 millimeters (7.7 inches) by early Friday, according to Lanzhou local authorities.

Chinese President Xi Jinping urged all-out rescue and flood prevention efforts.

Several parts of China are being battered by heavy rains. In the southern metropolis of Guangzhou, seven people died and seven others were injured after a flood-triggered landslide buried homes in the city’s northern Baiyun district Wednesday.

In Zhengzhou, the capital of the central Henan province, local authorities shut down schools, offices and factories and closed traffic in parts of the city, which saw catastrophic floods that killed at least 292 people in 2021.