At least 10 killed and 33 missing in northern China flash flooding

At least 10 have been killed and 33 others are missing after flash foods in Yuzhong County in China’s northwestern Gansu province, state media reported on Friday.

Heavy rains since Thursday have triggered severe flooding and at least one landslide in mountainous areas near the city of Lanzhou, according to state broadcaster CCTV.

The downpour knocked out power and telecommunications services in the Xinglong Mountain area, stranding more than 4,000 people across four villages.

Three people are still missing after a landslide in the village of Maliantan in Yuzhong County, which happened late on Thursday.

Maximum rainfall in the area had reached 195 millimetres by early Friday, according to Lanzhou local authorities.

Chinese President Xi Jinping urged all-out rescue and flood prevention efforts.

Several parts of China are being battered by heavy rains.

In the southern metropolis of Guangzhou, seven people died and seven others were injured after a flood-triggered landslide buried homes in the city’s northern Baiyun district on Wednesday.

In Zhengzhou, the capital of the central Henan province, local authorities shut down schools, offices and factories and closed traffic in parts of the city, which saw catastrophic floods that killed at least 292 people in 2021.

While in late July, local officials said that 31 people had died at the Taishitun Town Elderly Care Centre in Beijing's Miyun district, which was one of the areas hardest hit areas by storms that dumped nearly a year's worth of rain in the area over a few days.

Officials offered a rare public apology when they announced the deaths.

"For a long time, this senior centre was in the town's centre and was safe, and as such was not included in the preparedness plans. This means that our prepared plans had holes," Miyun Party secretary Yu Weiguo said, calling the incident a "bitter lesson."