At least 78 people were killed and another 91 were missing across China after a round of torrential rains swept through the country last week, flooding streams, triggering landslides and destroying houses. The Ministry of Civil Affairs said late on Friday that more than 400,000 people had been evacuated. The northern province of Hebei is the worst-hit with 36 people dead and another 77 missing. In the Hebei town of Xingtai alone, nine people were killed and 11 unaccounted for.
Local police blames a failure of a river levee for the heavy casualties, but villagers have complained to local media that they were not notified in time to evacuate when authorities decided to discharge floodwater from an upstream reservoir. Large parts of China have been inundated with rain this summer, killing more than 200 people.
More than 1.5 million hectares of crops have been damaged, leading to direct economic losses of more than 20 billion yuan (£2.3 billion), the government has said. The central bank on Friday issued a statement saying it would provide financial support for flooded areas.
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