Death toll from torrential rain across China rises to 186

Torrential rain across swathes of the mainland over the past few days has inflicted a heavy toll, washing away rail lines, shutting down city road networks and turning a massive sports stadium into a swimming pool.

By Sunday, the death toll from the downpours stood at 186, with another 45 missing, ­according to the State Flood ­Control and Drought Relief Headquarters.

Eight of the fatalities were in Wuhan, Hubei province, where a factory collapsed and buried workers under a wall.

The authorities said that throughout the country about ­1.5 million people had to be evacuated and 56,000 houses had ­collapsed. The direct economic losses amounted to 50.6 billion yuan (HK$59 billion).

In all, roughly 1,200 counties in 26 provinces and municipalities had been affected.

Those taking the biggest hit were Zhejiang, Anhui, Hubei and Hunan, as well as Chongqing and Guizhou.