Heavy rain triggers floods in China

Floodlights illuminate Hong Kong Stadium at noon during a heavy rain storm during the Sevens rugby tournament this weekend. Picture: Philippe Lopez

Floodlights illuminate Hong Kong Stadium at noon during a heavy rain storm during the Sevens rugby tournament this weekend. Picture: Philippe Lopez

Published Mar 31, 2014

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Beijing -

Sixteen people were killed in rain and hailstorms that triggered flooding and landslides in southern China, officials said Monday.

The severe weather, which began last Friday, has affected seven provinces and municipalities, China's ministry of civil affairs said in a statement. Sixteen people were dead and two others were missing.

The storms are the first round of heavy rainfall this spring, the ministry said.

In Guangdong province, one of the hardest-hit areas, flights at major airports ground to a halt and classes in some cities were suspended on Monday.

Rescuers in neighbouring Guangxi province have been searching since Sunday for a mine worker who was buried in a landslide, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

The deluge was so severe in Hong Kong on Sunday that hailstones smashed the windows of a shopping mall in the Kowloon Tong district.

Television footage showed umbrella-carrying shoppers wading through the drenched mall.

Of the 16 dead in mainland China, seven were from Guangdong province, which neighbours Hong Kong. - Sapa-AFP

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