Downpour wreaks havoc in SW China

Downpour is wreaking havoc in southwest China Saturday, causing two deaths in Sichuan Province and leaving at least eight missing in the neighboring Chongqing Municipality, local authorities said.

Heavy rain battered most parts of Sichuan Province starting on Friday. As of Saturday afternoon, 2,000 homes toppled in six cities and nearly 7,000 people were evacuated, the provincial flood control headquarters said in a press release.

Rain-triggered flood drowned at least 10 towns in the cities of Dazhou and Guang'an, and two landslides were reported, it said.

In the worst-hit places, precipitation exceeded 200 millimeters.

In a village on the outskirts of Chongqing Municipality, a rain-triggered landslide buried at least six people. As of 5 p.m., rescuers were still searching for the buried, whose identities were unknown, the local government in Changshou district said in a press release.

Changshou district was battered by heavy rain between 8 a.m. and 1 p.m. Saturday. The maximum precipitation exceeded 200 millimeters, it said.

A minivan was washed away in Gelan township Saturday morning. Of the six people in the vehicle, five escaped and the other one was missing.

Meanwhile, a villager in Shiyan township was reported missing on his way home.

The local weather bureau forecast the rain would last until Monday.

Meanwhile, the National Meteorological Center (NMC) said on Saturday maintained a blue alert for heavy rain in the country's western regions.

China has a four-tier color-coded warning system for severe weather, with red being the most serious, followed by orange, yellow and blue.