China floods leave scores dead, displace 1.6 million

Central and southern China have been hit by torrential rains and flooding since last month, damaging thousands of homes. - AFP

Beijing (AFP) - Floods and landslides have killed scores of people in China's central Hunan province as two weeks of torrential rains forced 1.6 million to flee, authorities said Monday.

Some 53,000 homes have collapsed while nearly 350,000 others were seriously or partially damaged after 11 straight days of rain, according to Tang Biyu, deputy director of Hunan's civil affairs department.