فيضانات بكين تتسبب في مصرع 44 صينياً وفقدان آخرين

At least 44 Chinese people have died, including 4 local government employees, while 9 others are still missing due to the heavy rains that hit the capital, Beijing, according to a municipal official.

The official from the Beijing municipality stated in a press conference today (Thursday) that more than 300,000 people have been affected by the floods resulting from the rains, noting that Beijing recorded a rainfall amount that increased by 67% compared to last year since the beginning of the current year.

He pointed out that 33 water reservoirs have suffered damage, indicating that disaster prevention plans and mitigation measures are still insufficient, and there are deficiencies in the infrastructure in the mountainous areas that were most affected.

The Xinhua News Agency reported that local authorities in the city of Chengde, located outside the capital Beijing, stated that 8 fatalities occurred in villages within the Shinglong area, which belongs to the city in Hebei Province, without specifying the timing or circumstances of their deaths, amid heavy rains in the mountainous region over the past week.

The agency noted that search efforts are still ongoing for the missing in the city, which is situated in mountainous terrain and is known as a resort where Qing Dynasty emperors would stay to escape the heat of Beijing in the summer for centuries.

The continuous heavy rains over the past week in Beijing and the surrounding areas have resulted in the deaths of at least 40 people in the suburbs of the capital, including 28 deaths in the mountainous Miyun area, particularly in the villages located on the borders of Miyun, which is about 25 kilometers away from the Miyun Reservoir, the largest in northern China.