Society

Death toll rises to 20 in S China landslides

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-06-02 21:15

NANNING - Three more bodies were recovered Wednesday from the debris of rain-triggered landslides in South China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, bringing the death toll to 20.

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Rescuers are searching for at least 27 people who were buried by landslides in Wuzhou and Yulin cities, said Wang Hai, an official of Guangxi's Land and Resources Administration.

Heavy rains began pounding Guangxi Monday, triggering landslides early Wednesday that left seven people dead in Cenxi county, of Wuzhou city, and 13 dead in Rongxian county, of Yulin.

By 11:30 am Wednesday, rainstorms had pounded 19 counties of seven cities, forced the evacuations of 66,473 people and caused direct economic losses of 600 million yuan ($87.84 million).

The rainstorms had damaged 3,260 homes and 103,450 hectares of crops, according to Guangxi's Civil Affairs Department.