A woman shelters from the rain with an umbrella in Beijing on Jul 31, 2023. (File Photo: AFP/Pedro Pardo)
Four people were killed and dozens are still missing after rainstorms buffeted southwestern China last week, state media reported on Wednesday (Aug 30).
Severe downpours hit Jinyang, a mountainous county in Sichuan province, on Aug 21, but the extent of the damage was not immediately reported.
Over a week after the rains, state broadcaster CCTV said on Wednesday the storms triggered floods that struck a steel processing site where more than 200 people were working.
“At present, the floods have caused four deaths and left 48 people missing, and rescue work is ongoing,” CCTV reported.
It added that five people had been detained on suspicion of “failing to report or falsely reporting a safety incident”.
President Xi Jinping ordered officials to “do all they can to search for the missing people … and comfort their families”, CCTV said.
The incident “should be completely investigated and the responsible parties dealt with according to law”, Xi reportedly said.
Heavy to very heavy rain is likely in Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand from August 22-24, said the India Meteorological Department (IMD). Meanwhile, four people died in a fresh landslide in Uttarakhand’s Tehri district.
SDRF carries out rescue work following a landslide in Uttarakhand’s Tehri district. (India Today)
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued an ‘orange alert’ for heavy to very heavy rain in Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand from August 22-24.
The weather body also warned of a moderate risk of flash floods in catchment areas of the Chamba and Mandi districts, predicting a wet spell till August 26.
Heavy rain can result in landslides, flash floods and increased water levels in rivers and drains, besides causing damage to standing crops, fruit plants and young seedlings, the weather office said.
The hill states have seen extensive devastation and deaths in the last few months due to incessant rainfall.
4 KILLED IN UTTARAKHAND LANDSLIDE, ROAD BLOCKED
Four people, including two women and a 4-month-old baby, were killed after being hit by a landslide in Chamba in Uttarakhand’s Tehri district on Monday, police said.
Four bodies have been recovered so far and a search is underway for another missing person, senior police official Navneet Singh Bhullaraid said.
Some more vehicles could also be trapped as the landslide hit a taxi stand near the Chamba police station, he added.
EXPLOSIONS rocked Moscow this morning after Russia attempted to stop a suspected kamikaze Ukrainian drone attack that almost hit a top Putin pundit.
The aerial assault strike wreaked havoc in the capital as flight travel was paralysed only hours after Volodymyr Zelenksy vowed revenge following a deadly Russian missile strike.
Russian claims that two Ukrainian drones were shot down over Moscow’s suburbsCredit: East2WestThe aftermath of a Ukrainian drone that was hit and fell close to pro-war fanatic and Putin’s ‘Iron Doll’Credit: East2WestThe UAV attack caused chaos at Moscow’s main airports and disrupted hundreds of flightsCredit: East2West
Russia claimed to have foiled two attacks by Ukrainian drones this morning, which caused chaos at all of Moscow’s major airports and disruptions to hundreds of flights.
The reports stated that Russian air defences had jammed one of the drones in the Ruzsky district west of the capital and later destroyed another one in the Istrinsky district nearby.
At least two were injured when one of the downed drones fell on a house in the Istrinsky suburb, a regional governor said.
The UAV reportedly exploded close to the sprawling mansion of the Russian propagandist and pro-war fanatic Margarita Simonyan.
The head of the RT state media empire – also known as Putin’s “iron Doll” – complained on Telegram that the drone was shot down “on the street next to us” in her wealthy Moscow suburb.
Pictures showed the trail of air defence missiles, while video captured the moment a drone exploded as it was struck by an air defence strike.
Moscow major airports – Sheremetyevo, Vnukovo, Domodedovo and Zhukovsky – were closed for two hours as air space around the capital was shut under the “Carpet regime”, an emergency plan for incoming drones.
One pilot told passengers: “All airports in Moscow are closed.”
At least four planes bound for Domodedovo were diverted as far as Kazan, some 500 miles to the east.
It comes after Ukrainian president Zelensky promised retaliation for Saturday’s Russian missile strike on the city centre of Chernihiv that killed seven, including a 6-year-old girl.
He vowed that his soldiers would give a “notable response” to the “terrorist attack”, which claimed the life of little Sofia and other victims.
At least 15 children were also among the 148 wounded and at least 25 civilians had been treated in hospital after the strike that the UN deplored as “heinous”.
Drone air strikes deep inside Russia, and often targeted at the capital, have increased since two drones were destroyed over the Kremlin in early May.
As August began, two drone strikes hit government buildings in the heart of Moscow in a devastating blow to Putin.
A week later, the capital was enveloped in further chaos as Ukrainian aerial assaults wreaked havoc above Moscow once again.
Only last week, another huge explosion lit up the capital’s skies after a drone blasted through a building only three miles from the Kremlin.
The attack trailed in the short wake of a Ukrainian naval kamikaze drone strike on Putin’s beloved £3billion bridge that connects annexed Crimea to Russia.
Over the weekend, a daring drone attack deep inside Russia destroyed one of Putin’s prized Tu-22 supersonic bombers at Soltsy airbase.
Debris of a house that collapsed after a landslide triggered by heavy monsoon rains, at Madrasu in Dehradun. (Image: PTI)
Incessant rains leading to landslides and flood-like situation continued to affect daily life in Himachal Pradesh, even as more heavy showers are predicted from Monday.
The Met office in Shimla issued a ‘yellow alert’ for heavy rain today and an ‘orange alert’ for heavy to very heavy rain from August 22 to 24.
At least 330 people have lost their lives due to rains and floods in this year’s monsoon, as per home ministry data. Last week, the state was hit by at least 25 landslides and one cloudburst.
