AP, Beijing :Torrential rains that swept through China this week have left at least 112 people dead and 91 others missing, various provincial governments reported on Saturday.The rains, which began on Monday, have flooded streams, triggered landslides and destroyed homes across China. The northern province of Hebei has been hit the hardest, with authorities there saying 72 people were killed and 78 missing.Nearly 300,000 people were evacuated in Hebei, and the province made another round of appropriations of tents, blankets, rain boots and generators, the provincial department of civil affairs said.In the Hebei city of Xingtai alone, 25 people were killed and another 13 were missing. The town also drew national attention after emotional protests erupted in one village on Friday.The village of Daxian in Xingtai was nearly wiped out when it was swamped by a flash flood early Wednesday as villagers were asleep. Photos circulating online showed disturbing images of drowned children lying in mud.Angry villagers in Daxian questioned whether authorities had failed to notify them in time for evacuation when an upstream reservoir discharged floodwaters. Authorities blamed a failure of a river levee near the village for the sudden water surge.Qiu Wenshuang, a vice mayor of Xingtai, said Saturday that the village was already flooded when officials entered the village to evacuate residents on Wednesday morning, according to state media reports.Nearly 50,000 homes have collapsed, it said.In the central province of Henan, 15 people were killed and eight were missing after thunderstorms and strong winds forced 72,000 people from their homes and damaged 18,000 houses,Altogether about 8.6 million people have been affected by the flooding, according state media and local government reports.Large parts of China have been inundated with rain this summer, killing more than 200 people. More than 1.5 million hectares of crops have been damaged, leading to direct economic losses of more than 20 billion yuan ($3 billion), the government has said.
