Floods and landslides triggered by heavy rains in China over the past few days have killed nearly 40 people and forced the evacuation of more than 300,000 residents, the government and state media said on Monday. In the northwestern province of Shaanxi, at least 20 people have died and 22 others are missing, the Civil Affairs Ministry said on its website (www.mca.gov.cn). Seventeen of them died after a rain-triggered landslide buried several workshops in provincial capital Xian, the official Xinhua news agency added. In neighboring Henan province, floods have killed at least six people and cut off a main rail line, the report was quoted as saying by Reuters. Another 13 people have died in southwestern Sichuan province, and more than 300,000 people have been evacuated in Guangan city, Xinhua said.
