Beijing: The death toll from flooding and landslides in southern China has risen to 44, with eight people still listed as missing, state media reported Friday.
Heavy rainstorms started pounding the Guangxi region on Monday, triggering the deadly landslides and forcing the evacuation of nearly 145,000 people, Xinhua news agency quoted the local government as saying.
According to a previous notice from the Ministry of Civil Affairs, more than 2.1 million people in Guangxi were affected by the disaster. So far, more than 8,100 homes have collapsed, Xinhua said.
China's national meteorological centre said Thursday that heavy rainfall over the region was coming to an end, but warned of the ongoing risk of landslides, floods and overflowing dams, the China Daily reported.
Heavy summer rainstorms often lead to hundreds of fatalities in southern China every year.
