Nine people are missing in central China after a landslide triggered by heavy rain amid flooding and scorching temperatures across much of the country, authorities said Sunday.
Five people were rescued from under rubble at a highway construction site in the central province of Hubei, where the accident occurred on Saturday. Crews kept digging in the hope of finding more survivors.
Tens of thousands of people have been moved to shelters amid heavy flooding in north, central and southeast China. Seasonal flooding occurs regularly in China, but this year’s rising waters have been accompanied by unusually long stretches of high temperatures.
With its more than 4 million square miles of land area, China is being hit simultaneously this summer by heat waves, floods and droughts.
Cities have opened their bomb shelters to offer residents relief from the heat.
Earlier this week, Beijing reported more than nine straight days with temperatures above 95 degrees Fahrenheit, a streak not seen since 1961.
Authorities issued health alerts and, in the capital and elsewhere, suspended outdoor work, though many workers continued to deliver packages, lay bricks and transport goods amid fears of a faltering economic recovery.
So far, two deaths in Beijing have been attributed to the scorching heat. Health authorities said a tour guide collapsed and died of heat stroke on Sunday while taking a tour of the Summer Palace, a vast 18th-century imperial garden. Last month, a woman in Beijing also died of heat stroke.
Health authorities in Shaoxing, a city in Zhejiang province, said on Thursday they had recorded deaths caused by the heat, but did not specify any details.
Chinese cities like Chongqing, a southwestern metropolis known for its sweltering summers, have used their anti-aircraft tunnels as public cooling centers for years.
The shelters are now often equipped with seating areas and offer access to water, snacks, heat stroke medication and, in some cases, amenities such as Wi-Fi, television and table tennis equipment.
Meteorological authorities warned on Thursday that severe drought in north China was threatening crops and stressing overloaded power grids. Meanwhile, heavy flooding in southern China has displaced thousands of people in recent weeks.
Earth’s average temperature set a new unofficial record on Thursday, the third such milestone in a week already rated the hottest on record.
