Rain isolates 20,000 China quake victims, eight die

Beijing: Torrential rain isolated more than 20,000 people in an area of southwest China still recovering from a devastating earthquake in May, state media said on Thursday, with eight people dead and dozens missing.

Heavy rain caused caused flash floods, cave-ins and landslides in mountainous Sichuan province near the epicentre of the quake, where survivors are still living in tents and pre-fabricated houses.

Thirty-eight people are missing and roads and telephone lines have been cut in the storms, Xinhua news agency said.

The downpours began to pound Mianyang city and surrounding countryside in Sichuan province on Monday night, it said.

Among the dead was the chief engineer of a British freighter tossed around in the storm off Guangdong, Xinhua said.

Thousands of homes and large areas of forestry and farms were destroyed, the China Daily said.

Typhoon Hagupit had since weakened as it moved into Vietnam, but Hanoi said the country was on high alert for flash floods and landslides.

The army has sent a typhoon alert to more than 38,000 fishermen, while the national carrier, Vietnam Airlines, cancelled a domestic northbound flight late on Wednesday.