225 dead or missing in Hebei province floods
More villagers complain that they received no warning even as floodwaters started filling their homes
A new round of heavy rain swept through large parts of China over the past week has caused heavy casualties, leaving at least 114 people dead and 111 others missing by Saturday evening in Hebei provinces.
In Xingtai city, 400km south of capital Beijing, at least 25 people were killed and another 13 missing, including many children, in a torrential flooding triggered by the biggest rainfall recorded since 1996, according to the provincial civil affairs department.
The disaster occurred just days after President Xi Jinping stressed on Wednesday the importance of prompt issuance of early warnings in flood-prone areas and warned officials whose dereliction of duty results in heavy casualties must be held accountable.
Floodwaters burst river banks and submerged at least 12 villages, authorities in Xingtai said yesterday. In Daxian village, one of the worst-hit, where at least seven people, including three school kids, were killed and another two kids still missing, the Beijing News reported.
Over one million people in 21 counties and districts in the city were affected, forcing nearly 90,000 people from their homes and damaged about 19,000 houses. About 9 million people in Hebei were affected.