Another person is dead after rainstorms swept northwest China's Xinjiang
Uygur Autonomous Region, bringing the death toll to at least three, according to
local sources yesterday.
The victim was Dong Wanshun, 43, a driver with the government of Qitai County
in northern Xinjiang's Changji Hui Autonomous Prefecture, who was on his way to
the swollen Kaiken River when a dam broke at 3:00 a.m. on Wednesday and his car
was washed away. His body was found at 11:00 a.m..
A landslide triggered by rainstorms in a pasture in the Mulei county occurred
at about 9:00 a.m. Four people were buried and one injured person managed to
escape. Rescuers are still trying to find those missing.
In a separate case, a villager from Mulei county fell into the river and is
still missing.
Heavy rains hit Xinjiang from Saturday, battering a Mongolian tent at a
scenic site in the Dongshan district of Urumqi, killing two and injuring eight
others.
More than 200 people were mobilized for help with repairs to the
Lanzhou-Urumqi Railway that links Xinjiang and Gansu and National Highway 312,
which reopened to traffic at noon on Wednesday.
The railway and the national highway were severed by torrential rains on
Monday, leaving more than 300 vehicles and at least 1,000passengers
stranded.