Beijing: At least 45 people were killed and 21 others injured over the past week by heavy rains and landslides in China as authorities on Thursday issued the first red alert for the typhoon Rammasun which is all set to hit the southern region of the country.
China's Meteorological authorities issued its first red alert as typhoon Rammasun heads for landfall in south China on Friday.
Rammasun is likely to come ashore in Hainan and Guangdong provinces on Friday, bringing torrential rain to already waterlogged regions, the National Meteorological Centre (NMC) said.
Hainan, Guangdong and Guangxi will be hit by rainstorms, while inland areas of Yunnan, Hubei and Henan will experience heavy rainfall.
The NMC warned of flooding in cities and landslides in mountain areas. Already forty five people were killed and 21 missing in heavy rains and landslides in China.
Heavy rains have left 34 people dead and another 21 missing in south China, Ministry of Civil Affairs said.
Eleven people were killed and 19 others seriously injured after a landslide hit nine vehicles in southwest China's Sichuan Province, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
About 3,000 cubic meters of dirt and stone hit a truck, seven cars and a pick-up truck. The injured have been sent to a local hospital.
Six seriously injured people were transferred to the Huaxi Hospital in the city of Chengdu. Rescue work is still under way.
Severe rainfall and ensuing floods hit the provinces of Guizhou, Hunan, Jiangxi, Hubei, Sichuan, Yunnan, Anhui and the municipality of Chongqing since July 10, affecting more than 8.82 million people, the ministry said.
Ten people were killed in Guizhou and 10 others listed missing so far, while nine people died and 11 missing in Hunan, it said.
The disaster has forced evacuation of 403,000 people in the south. More than 63,000 houses have been destroyed and 44,900 hectares of crops are unharvestable in these areas, with direct economic losses reaching 5.21 billion yuan (USD
839.8 million), it said.
Meanwhile typhoon Rammasun is expected to make landfall in south China's island province of Hainan or coastal area of Guangdong Province tomorrow, weather bureau said.
Rammasun, packing rainstorms and winds of up to 120 kilometre per hour, is moving northwest at a speed of 20 to 25 kilometre per hour and will probably land in Hainan or Guangdong with a maximum wind speed of more than 140 km per hour around noon tomorrow, according to the station's forecast.
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