Floods kill 76 in China

Floods and landslides have killed 76 people in southwest China in the past four days and washed away homes and roads, knocked down power lines and cut off at least one city, state media said yesterday.

"We've never seen such heavy flooding," a government official said.

Heavy rain sparked flash floods and mud and rock flows in the southwest province of Sichuan, destroying crops and severing transport links, Xinhua news agency said, citing provincial disaster relief officials.

At least 55 people were killed in Sichuan, with 52 missing, and at least 21 people were killed in the city of Chongqing, to the east of Sichuan and 1,500 kilometres south of Beijing.

No immediate respite was in sight with rain expected through today, provincial officials said.

The most destructive storms this year had battered Dazhou, Nanchong and Bazhong cities since Thursday, Xinhua said.

China is regularly hit by storms and severe flooding during its summer rainy season. Floods and typhoons have killed at least 800 people this year.