China landslide: 700 evacuated from Hunan Province, no casualties reported

More than 700 residents of a central China village were evacuated today as a dam was breached due to heavy rains and landslides.

Heavy rain has lashed parts of Hunan Province since yesterday.

At a village in Yueyang County, rain-triggered landslides clogged the floodway of a dam, causing a surge of water in the dam and collapsing of the dam wall, the local government said.

Dozens of houses were flooded, but there were no casualties as all villagers were evacuated in time, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

Across the province, floods trapped hundreds in the county of Pingjiang and the city of Jishou. Landslides occurred in Luxi County.

Water at a section of the Yuanjiang River has surged nearly seven metres in the past 24 hours.

The Hunan provincial weather forecast bureau said heavy rain will continue today.