Local authorities have reported that 17 people have died and 17 more are still missing following a flash flood in China’s Qinghai province.
A top provincial official was quoted by Xinhua news agency as saying that twenty people who had previously been listed as missing had been found and that 4,500 firefighters, police officers, service members, emergency responders, and local residents were conducting search and rescue operations.
In the provincial capital of Xining, Datong Hui and Tu Autonomous County was battered by the torrential rain that began at 10.25 p.m. on Wednesday.
By Thursday, the rainstorms had caused mudslides, flash floods, and river course changes.
Six villages, totaling 6,245 people, have been impacted as a result of at least two buildings being destroyed and 14 more suffering significant damage.
More than 1,200 people will be housed in temporary shelters at two schools, according to Ma Mingxu, head of the county government.
50 million yuan ($7) from the natural disaster relief funds, along with an additional 50 million yuan from the provincial department of finance, have been set aside jointly by the ministries of finance and emergency management.
The money will be used for emergency rescue and disaster relief efforts, with a focus on finding, rescuing, and moving those affected by the disaster, secondary disaster detection, the repair of damaged homes, and other things.