The New Indian Express ·
Mudslide death toll in China rises to 3 after heavy rain from Typhoon Saudel
BEIJING: The death toll from a mudslide in eastern China rose to three on Sunday, after days of torrential rain brought by Typhoon Saudel. Nine others were still missing.
The mudslide hit part of a village in Suichuan County in Jiangxi province early Saturday, damaging a dozen houses. Rescuers found two people dead on Sunday, state broadcaster CCTV reported. More than 5,300 people in the country were relocated to safer places. A third death related to the typhoon was reported Saturday.
Separately, CCTV reported that two people were killed in Hunan province in south-central China following downpours brought by the typhoon. The report didn't specify the cause of the deaths, but said that the rain triggered landslides and other disasters.
Saudel made two landfalls in Zhejiang Province on Aug. 28 and made a third landfall as a tropical storm in Fujian Province on Sept. 3, Chinese official news agency Xinhua reported. Both provinces neighbor Jiangxi.
Xinhua also reported Sunday that a person was killed after a landslide struck another village in Jiangxi a day before, but it didn't specify whether Saudel triggered it.
In Fujian, local authorities said Friday that more than 100 houses collapsed in Huating Town in Putian city, it said. A dike was breached Thursday afternoon, flooding villages and trapping residents, it added.
About 600,000 residents have been evacuated from risky offshore and onshore areas in Fujian as of Friday night, Xinhua reported.
Images from state broadcaster CCTV showed that some streets were turned into rivers, while rescuers deployed inflatable boats in their efforts.