Six killed, 1.57 million affected by torrential rains and floods in southern China

Six killed, 1.57 million affected by torrential rains and floods in southern China

2011-07-16 09:15:17 GMT+7 (ICT)

BEIJING, CHINA (BNO NEWS) -- At least six people have been killed and around 1.57 million others have been affected by torrential rains and landslides in the southern region of China, officials said on Saturday.

The National Commission for Disaster Reduction said eight provincial-level regions have been affected since the heavy rainfall began last Monday, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

As of 3 p.m. local time on Friday, six deaths had been confirmed as the affected provinces include Jiangsu, Anhui, Jiangxi, Hunan, Guangdong, Sichuan, Yunnan and the autonomous region of Tibet.

In addition, the commission economic losses directly caused by the disasters have totaled to 350 million yuan $54.13 million). Meanwhile, around 50 million yuan ($7.74 million) has been allocated in subsidies and aid by China's Ministry of Civil Affairs and the Ministry of Finance to help the affected people in Sichuan and Shaanx.

Since the beginning of the year, around 1.91 billion yuan ($295.6 million) have been allocated by both ministries to assist people affected by natural disasters. Around 435 million yuan ($67.3 million) was released to residences affected by rain and flooding.

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