Rainstorm kills 10 in SW China's Chongqing

Rainstorm-triggered floods in southwest China's Chongqing municipality have killed at least 10 people in the past four days, officials with the Ministry of Civil Affairs said Wednesday. Another person is still missing.

Continuous rainfall since Sunday also caused landslides and mud flows in some parts of the mountainous municipality.

A car runs throught the flooded street in southwest China's Chongqing  Tuesday August 4, 2009. [Xinhua]

More than 1.5 million Chongqing residents have been affected by the floods, and 123,000 have been relocated, ministry official said.

Direct economic losses amounted to 680 million yuan ($100 million), with more than 10,000 houses toppled in the floods and 16,000 more damaged.

The government yesterday issued an alert and urged stepped-up efforts to fight against the flooding in the upper and middle reaches of the Yangtze River, expected to be the worst since August 2004.

Flooding has been caused by continuous heavy rainfalls in the region.

Maximum inflow into the Three Gorges Dam would be 56,000 cu m a second, the Office of State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters (SFDH) warned.