China: 44 people died so far due to heavy rains and floods, nine missing

Relief and rescue work has been going on in Beijing for the last four days. The rain damaged the roads, disrupted power supply and forced thousands of people to evacuate their homes.

Beijing: 44 people have died and nine are still missing due to heavy rains and floods in Beijing last week. Local officials gave this information on Thursday.

Relief and rescue work has been going on in Beijing for the last four days. The rain damaged the roads, disrupted power supply and forced thousands of people to evacuate their homes. According to the official Xinhua News Agency, the deaths occurred in Miyun and Yanqing districts, northern mountainous areas of Beijing. Heavy rains started here from Saturday.

Earlier on Monday, Chinese President Xi Jinping had ordered that every effort should be made to protect the lives and property of people in the areas affected by rain and landslides. More than 80,000 people have been sent to safer places in Beijing alone. Due to the rain, 31 road routes were broken and power supply has been disrupted in 136 villages.

China's Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Emergency Management on Tuesday provided 350 million yuan (about 49 million US dollars) to nine provincial regions, including Beijing, for relief work. On the same day, the National Development and Reform Commission announced an additional 200 million yuan (about 28 million US dollars) for relief work in Beijing.