SAEDNEWS: At least eight people were killed in a flash flood in northern China, while four others remain missing, state media reported on Sunday.
According to Xinhua, the banks of a river in Inner Mongolia’s grasslands burst late Saturday night, sweeping away 13 campers near Bayannur city, a key agricultural hub. One survivor has been rescued.
The incident comes as China faces weeks of extreme weather since July, with heavier-than-normal rainfall linked to the East Asian monsoon. Experts say shifting weather patterns are connected to climate change, bringing flash floods that have displaced thousands and caused significant economic damage.
Bayannur is considered a vital national center for grain, oil production, and sheep breeding.
Meanwhile, in southern China’s Hainan province, authorities lifted a three-and-a-half-month suspension on shipping routes after heavy rainfall had forced vessels to remain in port.
The floods in Inner Mongolia follow last month’s deadly storm in Beijing, about 1,000 kilometers away, which killed at least 44 people and displaced more than 70,000 residents.
China’s central government has allocated 430 million yuan ($59.9 million) in new disaster relief funds, bringing the total since April to at least 5.8 billion yuan.
