More rains to hit China after floods kill over 500

Beijing, July 27: Heavy rain is to hit flood-battered southwest China over the next few days with officials warning of landslides as a heatwave shows no let-up across the south and east, state media said today.

More than 500 people have died nationwide in floods this summer and meteorologists forecast more downpours for the Guangxi region and the provinces of Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan where floods and related disasters have already taken a heavy toll.

''The possibility of landslides and mud and rock flows is high and preventive measures should be taken,'' the centre said on its Web site (www.nmc.gov.cn).

Water levels on the Huai River, which has been overflowing since the start of July and has displaced hundreds of thousands of people, remained above dangerous levels though the disaster was ''nearing its end'', Xinhua news agency said.

But many villagers in the eastern province of Anhui, evacuated before their homes and crops were deliberately flooded to ease pressure on the Huai, were still unable to return home.

Heavy rain also soaked parts of several northwestern provinces this week, causing serious street flooding and delaying trains in Xian, capital of Shaanxi province, yesterday, Xinhua said. The area is to be hit by more rain today.

In the northern province of Shanxi, rainstorms have halted efforts to rescue the nine coal miners trapped when flood water inundated their pit on Sunday, Xinhua said. Two bodies have been found so far.

Temperatures in at least seven southern and southeastern Chinese provinces -- home to about 200 million people -- could reach 37 degrees Celsius (98.6 Fahrenheit) today, the National Meteorological Centre said.

The heat, which has persisted for about a month in some areas, is set to compound the drought in the rice-growing provinces of Jiangxi, Hunan and Fujian.

Reuters>