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Record rainfall and floods in Beijing have so far claimed the lives of 33 people, whereas 18 are still missing, the officials confirmed on Wednesday.



The Chinese capital has been hit by record rainfall in recent weeks, causing damage to the infrastructure, also ravaging farms and cities.

On Wednesday (9 Aug), officials said that the floods in Beijing had killed 33 people which was almost thrice the numbers shared by authorities last Tuesday.

Hebei province, which neighbours Beijing, had reported 15 deaths with 22 still missing. 

Whereas, in northeastern Jilin, 14 people had lost their lives and one person was reported missing on Sunday.

Further north in Heilongjiang, state media reported dozens of rivers saw water levels rise above "warning markers" in recent days.

"I still feel scared when I recall the recent flooding," Zheng Xiaokang, a police officer from the province's Jiangxi village, told the state-run Xinhua News Agency.

"In the face of the persistent downpour and rising river water, the consequences would have been devastating had we not managed to timely evacuate the villagers," Zheng said.

Floods kill 7 in Sichuan province 

Seven people lost their lives in flash floods in southwestern China on Wednesday.

As per reports, the victims who died were taking pictures when the torrent struck, were tourists visiting a popular site. 

147 deaths, disappearances caused by natural disasters

Last week, China released a statement saying that natural disasters had claimed the lives of at least 147 people, with several missing in the month of July after record rainfall hit the country's capital.

China's Ministry of Emergency Management said that 142 of the deaths or disappearances recorded in the month of July were caused by flooding or geological disasters.  

The remaining five deaths or disappearances were due to other natural disasters such as drought. 

China to ramp up restoration efforts

China will ramp up restoration efforts in the country's north and northeast regions which were severely impacted by storm Doksuri. As per state media reports, Beijing will reconstruct the houses that were destroyed due to the recent record flooding in order to make sure that the ones affected can go back to their homes by winter.

The floods, which ravaged farms and cities in the northern Hebei province and enclosing areas, led to more than 1.5 million evacuations.

China's Cabinet said authorities would accelerate the efforts to restore power and telecom connections destroyed by the floods, state broadcaster CCTV reported, citing a cabinet meeting chaired by Premier Li Qiang.

Reuters

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