Four die as heavy rains soak China

HEAVY rains that have soaked swathes of northern China killed four people and left eight missing yesterday, state media said, as downpours forced thousands to evacuate across the capital city and surrounding areas.

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Authorities in Beijing have issued the country’s secolid tuphest warning for rainstorms and the highest for floods, with the downpours expected to last into today.

In Hebei province, which encircles the capital, the heavy rains caused a landslide in a village near the city of Chengde, state broadcaster CCTV said.

Four were killed and eight are still missing, it said, with the national emergency management department dispatching a team to inspect the “severe” flooding in the province, where a further two died over the weekend.