Post-typhoon mudslides in China kills 21, 6 missing
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According to officials, 900 homes in the northwestern city of Xi'an lost power after torrential downpours and typhoons.
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Emergency services on the outskirts of Xi’an deal with the aftermath of the mudslide on August 11, 2023. (AP)
Chinese officials on Sunday reported that a mudslide in the city of Xi'an left 21 people dead while six are still missing.
The city's emergency management administration provided an update on the number of casualties from Friday's catastrophe.
China Central Television (CCTV), the state-owned broadcaster, had earlier reported the death or disappearance of 18 people, including two wounded.
The country's official news agency, Xinhua, uploaded a video showing broken trees and rubble stacking up along muddy roads in a community, with buildings damaged or collapsed.
The mudslide wrecked two residences and knocked off electricity to 900 residents, according to a statement on the city's WeChat account.
Typhoon Khanun, which pummeled areas of Japan and South Korea, has generated heavy rain in China. When the typhoon came down in China's north-eastern Liaoning province Friday night, it deteriorated into a tropical depression.
According to CCTV, rain continues to pose flooding hazards in low-lying areas such as Ansha, Liaoning, where 17,859 residents have been evacuated.
Read more: World reels from wildfires, floods as US, China discuss climate crisis
The broadcaster added that overnight rainfall in Liaoning peaked at 52mm (2in) per hour, with four reservoirs surpassing flood levels.
China's Ministry of Emergency Management conducted a special meeting on Sunday with the state flood control and drought relief offices to review flood prevention and emergency response measures in severely hit provinces such as Liaoning, Shaanxi, Tianjin, and Chongqing.
The country had just seen Typhoon Doksuri, the latest in a series of heavy rains that have ravaged cities across the world amid rising temperatures and a spiraling global climate crisis.
In early August, Beijing's weather service confirmed that the deadly rains being witnessed by China had been the heaviest on record in 140 years.
In July, Chinese sources reported that heavy-rain-induced floods claimed the lives of 11 people in Beijing. In that same month, nine people died in the province of Hebei.
Overall, a total of 44,673 people in 13 districts of Beijing were impacted by the heavy rains, while hundreds of thousands were evacuated.
