Those killed among dozens who have died as rains wallop southern region

The death toll from a rainstorm in Mianning county in Liangshan Yi autonomous prefecture in Sichuan province rose to 12 on Monday, with 10 people reported missing, the county government information office said.

The rainstorm started at 6 pm on Friday and continued until 1 am on Saturday, causing floods and wreaking havoc in many villages.

Dide Keyizi, a Yi resident of Damawu village in Yihai town, rode a sanlunche－a large, motorized tricycle－with eight family members to flee the flood on Friday night.

The vehicle was overturned by the flood. He and his mother survived, and his 11-year-old daughter was rescued by a neighbor after she clung to a cherry tree in the neighbor's courtyard. But the other five family members were swept away by the water, said Lu Zheng, Party chief of Yihai.

Caogu village in Yihai was one of the areas hardest hit by the flood, which washed out road sections, collapsed houses, cut telecommunication signals and destroyed crops.