TAIYUAN: Continuous rainstorms have left 15 people dead and three others missing in north China’s Shanxi province, according to a press conference held by the provincial government.
Authorities also confirmed yesterday that 13 people had died after a bus plunged into a rushing river amid heavy flooding.
State broadcaster CCTV said another 37 people from the bus had been rescued, among which seven were hospitalised, and the driver had been placed in custody. One person remained missing.
From Oct 2 to 7, Shanxi experienced the strongest autumn flood on record.
Continuous rainfall has affected nearly 1.76 million residents in 76 county-level regions across the province, and 120,100 people have been relocated.
About 238,460ha of crops have been damaged and 37,700 houses collapsed or seriously damaged, causing direct economic losses of 5.03 billion yuan (RM3.25bil).
As of 5pm on Monday, the disaster had caused the suspension of 530 high-voltage lines, and 332,700 households lost power.Over 6,021km of roads were also damaged, resulting in the interruption of 32 sections of expressways, 72 highway sections and 3,238 rural road sections.
As of Monday, 30 blocked sections of expressways across the province had resumed traffic, while 19 sections and 2,800 sections of highways and rural roads had reopened. — Xinhua/AP
