China floods: Dozens killed after days of rain

Floods and landslides in China caused by a week of heavy rain have killed at least 57 people and forced more than a million from their homes. Officials said 12.3 million people were affected in Sichuan, Henan and Shaanxi provinces - in the south-west, centre and north of China. The flooding in Sichuan was expected to be the worst since records began in 1847, Chinese media reported. The floods have damaged crops and delayed harvests, reports said. More than 120,000 houses have collapsed and economic losses are estimated at $2.7bn (£1.7bn), the Ministry of Civil Affairs said. Twenty-nine people were missing, the ministry said in a statement. The central government has teams to help with the relief effort and distribute tents, blankets and clothing, the ministry added. The deputy mayor of Xi'an, the capital of Shaanxi, said a landslide on Saturday had hit a suburban district of the city, burying a brick factory and a dormitory for workers, killing 17 people and leaving 15 missing, the state-run China Daily said. More than 600,000 people have been evacuated from their homes in Sichuan as major tributaries of the Yangtze - China's longest river - exceed danger levels, the official Xinhua news agency said. China is badly affected by flooding every year. Last year's floods - the worst in a decade - killed or left missing more than 4,000 people.