Flooding kills seven, two missing in northwest China

World Today

Vehicles are crushed by a collapsed wall at a residential community on Aug. 3, 2015 in Xi An, China. At least seven people were killed and four others are still missing after a torrential rain hit Xi’an city on Monday, causing landslides and floods in the area. (ChinaFotoPress)

Seven people have been confirmed dead, and two others remain missing after they were swept away by a rain-triggered flood in Xi’an, capital of northwest China’s Shaanxi province on Monday, according to local authorities.

Police and firefighters on Tuesday found two bodies near a reservoir downstream of Xiaoyuhe village in the city. The flooded river washed away 13 people from a riverside restaurant at around 1:15 p.m. local time on Monday; four of them were rescued.

“We found the bodies of two victims, one of them an elderly male and the other a young female. Since the rain is continuing intermittently, we are afraid that the river will swell up again,” said Yuan Xiao, head of the Shaanxi Blue Sky Rescue Team.

Monday’s storm dumped more than 145.7 millimeters (5.7 inches) of rain in the village, the highest levels in 30 years, according to the local meteorological department.

A witness said the river rose up so quickly that people at the restaurant were washed away in a blink of the eye.

“At first, I saw six people, but when I turned my head again, they were gone, people and everything, even the utility pole. It all happened in just two to three seconds,” said Feng Suocheng, a Xiaoyuhe resident.

More than 200 police officers, firefighters, and residents have been searching for the missing along the river since Monday evening.

Story by CCTV News