At least sixty dead in China during historic storms

The torrential rains that have battered northern China in recent days have left at least 62 people dead, according to a revised death toll on Wednesday. Typhoon Doksuri, downgraded to a storm after hitting the neighboring Philippines, swept across parts of China last week with unusually intense rainfall.

 

China's capital, Beijing, which experienced its heaviest rainfall in 140 years, and the neighboring province of Hebei were particularly hard hit. The death toll from the storms rose to at least 33, with 18 missing in Beijing alone on Wednesday. In neighboring Hebei province, at least 15 people died in the storms, which also claimed at least 14 lives in northeast China, near Russia and North Korea.

 

The Chinese authorities announced on Friday that the country's natural disasters had left 147 people dead or missing in July. This figure only partially includes the victims of typhoon Doksuri. "I would like to offer my deepest condolences," said Beijing Vice-Mayor Xia Linmao, calling for a moment of silence for the victims at a press conference.

 

At the other end of the country, at least seven people died on Wednesday in the mountainous province of Sichuan (south-west), during a flash flood on a river, reported the China News Agency. Meteorological services in a nearby town had warned on Wednesday of the risk of heavy rainfall in the area.

 

China has been facing extreme weather conditions and locally unusual temperatures in recent months, exacerbated by climate change, according to scientists.