95 killed in China rains

Natural disasters caused by the downpours have affected about 6.23 million people in 264 counties in 17 provincial areas and forced the evacuation of about 567,000 people, the Ministry of Civil Affairs said.

The ministry reported 37 deaths in Beijing municipality, 17 deaths and 21 missing in Hebei province, 8 deaths and two missing in Sichuan province, six deaths and four missing in Yunnan province, five deaths in Chongqing municipality, four deaths and one missing in Shanxi province, three deaths in Inner Mongolia autonomous region, three deaths and 14 missing in Shaanxi province.

Twelve people were killed in other Chinese provinces.

Rainstorms also destroyed 29,000 houses and damaged another 55,000, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

National disaster relief and civil affairs authorities initiated a fourth-grade emergency response and sent teams to the worst-affected Beijing and Hebei on Sunday to direct relief work.

In addition, national authorities also initiated a fourth-grade emergency response in Chongqing on Monday afternoon.

The latest round of storms that started July 21 have affected 890,000 residents of 17 counties in Chongqing, according to local civil affairs bureau.

Local disaster relief and civil affairs authorities have allocated 5 million yuan (about USD 782,834) of emergency relief funding, 710 tents, and 3,275 quilts to the flood-ravaged regions.