Dozens still missing after torrential rain

Firefighters relocate an elderly villager affected by flooding in Xinhua village in Hanyuan county, Ya'an, Sichuan province, on Sunday. (WANG XI/XINHUA)

Severe casualties were reported over the weekend as torrential rain hit many parts of China, with search and rescue efforts ongoing to locate dozens of people missing in accidents caused by flash floods.

The National Development and Reform Commission said on Sunday that it had allocated 350 million yuan ($48.15 million) from the central budget to aid disaster relief and restoration efforts in flood-stricken Henan, Shaanxi, and Sichuan provinces.

The money will be used to fund the emergency recovery of flood-damaged schools, hospitals, flood control facilities, and other infrastructure in the three provinces, it said.

In Shaanxi, in Northwest China, more than 700 professional rescuers and over 1,500 local people are searching for 31 people who are still missing after their vehicles plunged into a flooded river when a highway bridge collapsed amid torrential rains over the weekend.

At about 8:40 pm on Friday, a rainstorm triggered a flash flood on the Jinqian River in Zhashui county in Shangluo, causing a 40-meter-long section of the No 2 Bridge in Yanping village to collapse. The 366-meter bridge is a part of the Danfeng-Ningshan expressway, Zhao Jing, Party chief of Shangluo, said at a news conference on Saturday.

Based on the highway toll system and video surveillance, as well as telephone inquiries, the rescuers concluded that 17 cars and eight trucks had plunged into the river.

By 7 pm on Sunday, rescue workers had recovered 15 bodies and rescued one person. Drones and kayaks are being used in efforts to locate the remaining vehicles and people who are missing, along a 60 km stretch downstream of the collapsed bridge, Zhao said.

The water flow of the river has now slowed, and the water level has also dropped compared with the level when the bridge collapsed, making the conditions conducive to the search and rescue work, he added.

To aid the search and rescue mission, the Ministry of Water Resources has stopped water flowing out of all reservoirs on the Jinqian River upstream of the collapsed bridge, the ministry said on Sunday.

Experts from the transportation and water resources sectors have also been deployed to conduct on-site safety assessments in the affected area. Comprehensive control measures have been implemented on the bridge involved in the accident, delineating safe and dangerous zones, and taking precautions to prevent secondary disasters, it added.

Authorities have also intensified monitoring, forecasting, and early warning systems for meteorological, hydrological, and geological conditions in the affected area to provide robust support for rescue operations.

Meanwhile, a rescue operation is continuing in Sichuan, in Southwest China, after contact was lost with more than 30 people after flash floods struck Xinhua village at around 2:30 am on Saturday, the local government said.

The floods triggered by torrential rains also damaged over 40 houses in the village in Hanyuan county, Ya'an. More than 1,524 people have been affected, it said during a news conference on Sunday.

It added that by 10 pm on Saturday, eight bodies had been found, with the identities of five confirmed. Four other missing people have been found alive, with no life-threatening problems.

Traffic on roads and bridges, and communications in the area interrupted by the flash floods have been restored. Electricity supply is also being restored in phases, the local government said.