China floods: rescuers search for 16 missing in Xian while northeast braces for more rain in wake of typhoons

Flooding and mudslides kill two and leave more than a dozen missing as destruction from storms spreads to northwestern city

Beijing fights to reduce impact on farmers and rolls out support for agriculture amid food security push

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Rescue crews work in a mountain village near Xian in northwestern China, where floods and mudslides washed away houses and damaged roads, bridges and power facilities. Photo: Xinhua

Published: 6:03pm, 12 Aug 2023Updated: 6:38pm, 12 Aug 2023

China has sent an emergency team to the northwestern city of Xian, where two people were killed and over a dozen remain missing because of floods and mudslides.

Rescuers from the Ministry of Emergency Management, together with local emergency workers, are searching for 16 missing residents of a mountain village in Xian after hours of downpours late on Friday, state media reported.

Two people have been confirmed dead as floods and mudslides washed away two houses and damaged roads, bridges and power supply facilities, state broadcaster CCTV said.

The casualties followed historically heavy rain brought by the remnants of Typhoon Doksuri in parts of China’s grain-producing northeast as well as Beijing and Hebei province in the north, where dozens of people died, dozens more went missing and large areas of cropland were damaged.

Vice-premier Liu Guozhong toured Beijing and neighbouring Hebei on Friday to call for efforts to reduce the impact on agriculture as China continues its push for food security, according to state news agency Xinhua.