Death toll from mudslide in China rises to 21 as country grapples with heavy rainfall

The death toll from a mudslide in northwestern China’s Xian city has risen to 21, as six people remaining missing, the city’s emergency response authority said on Sunday.

A video released by the official Xinhua news agency showed broken trees and rubble piling up along muddy roads in a village that lies in a mountainous area, with houses and infrastructure damaged or destroyed.

Rescue work was under way, with 81 people and 11 vehicles deployed at the site, the state radio report said.

Meanwhile, Typhoon Khanun weakened into a tropical depression when it made landfall in China's Liaoning province on Friday night.

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While it has since dissipated, residual rainfall over the rugged terrain of the northeastern province still poses flooding risks to low-lying cities including Liaoning province's Anshan, where 17,859 people have been evacuated from at-risk areas, according to CCTV.

Overnight rainfall in Liaoning peaked at 52mm (two inches) per hour, with four reservoirs exceeding flood limits, CCTV said.

China’s state flood control and drought relief headquarters and the ministry of emergency management held a special meeting on Sunday morning to discuss flood prevention and emergency response measures in badly affected provinces such as Liaoning, Shaanxi, Tianjin and Chongqing, CCTV reported.

Khanun comes as the country reels from the impact of Typhoon Doksuri, which lashed northern China with torrential rain and flooding after it made landfall on July 28th.

Warmer temperatures have also fuelled powerful convective weather in many parts of China amid an unusually wet summer.

On Saturday morning, a dramatic supercell storm formed in China's northwestern region of Xinjiang. A video posted by state media People's Daily showed thick swirling clouds hanging low above the ground, darkening the sky.

“The force of nature is irresistible,” one commentator exclaimed on the video. – Reuters