Seven dead, 55,000 evacuated as fresh rains hit China

Beijing: Fresh rains lashed several parts of southern China, killing at least seven persons and triggering floods and landslides forcing over 55,000 people to evacuate, local authorities said.

Over the last two days, several parts of southern China, including Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Guizhou, Anhui and Zhejiang province, are witnessing heavy rain. Meteorological forecasts suggests that it will continue to do so till Friday in some of the regions, Xinhua news agency reported.

Three people were killed by lightning in Guizhou in the last two days, while four other were killed in the northern Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region due to heavy downpours and hailstorms.

More than 53,000 people had been evacuated in Hubei City of Xianning, as downpours had raised the level of a local river by five meters as of 7 pm yesterday, according to local authorities.