Sudden rainfall in western China caused flash flooding that killed over a dozen people on Wednesday and left more missing.
The rapidly rising waters Wednesday night caused a landslide that disturbed the flow of a local river and forced flood waters into six villages in the Qinghai province, killing at least sixteen villagers, with eighteen still missing, AP News reported.
16 people were killed in the early morning floods that hit #Datong_Hui_Tou, #Xining City, #Qinghai Province, #China, and 20 missing people were rescued.#China pic.twitter.com/i5QY0V0XEM
— خالد اسكيف (@khalediskef) August 18, 2022
CCTV, Chinese state media run by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), announced that rescuers had found eighteen of the 36 people initially missing from the flooding that authorities described as a “mountain torrent,” the AP said.
The six Qinghai province villages affected by the flash flooding are home to more than 6,000 people, CCTV said, according to the outlet. The mountain torrent was caused by heavy rainfalls that forced the mudslides and debris to divert the flow of the river toward the populated areas.
Local villages were affected by flowing waters, mud, and debris, like uprooted trees, that washed away roads and displaced people’s cars, the AP reported. (RELATED: China Might Be The Biggest Winner In Senate-Passed CHIPS Bill)
Another mountain torrent killed seven people in the Sichuan province in southwestern China, according to the outlet.
Sichuan province is among a large area of mountains and rivers affected by a historic drought in the southwestern region, the AP reported. China state media said more than 600,000 people and 36,7000 hectares of crops were affected by the lack of rain and high temperatures, the outlet stated.