Rainstorms kill 95 in China

BEIJING - Torrential rain has ravaged China's 17 provincial areas since July 20, leaving 95 dead and another 45 missing, the Ministry of Civil Affairs said on Monday.

Natural disasters caused by the downpours had affected about 6.23 million people in 264 counties in 17 provincial areas such as Beijing, Hebei, Shanxi, Sichuan, and Guizhou and forced the areas to be evacuated of about 567,000 residents, the ministry said in a statement.

The ministry reported 37 deaths in Beijing, 17 deaths and 21 missing in Hebei, 8 deaths and two missing in Sichuan, six deaths and four missing in Yunnan,? five deaths in Chongqing, four deaths and one missing in Shanxi, three deaths in Inner Mongolia autonomous region, three deaths and 14 missing in Shaanxi.

Rainstorms also left 29,000 houses collapsed and another 55,000 damaged.

National disaster relief and civil affairs authorities initiated ?a fourth-grade emergency response and sent teams to the worst-affected ?Beijing and Hebei on Sunday to direct relief work.

As of Monday noon, natural disasters?- strong wind, hail, floods, landslides and mudslides?- had affected about 110 million people in the 31 provincial areas on the Chinese mainland so far this year, leaving 680 dead and 137 missing, according to the ministry.