11 dead, 27 missing in SW China rainstorms

Eleven people died and 27 others are missing after rainstorms devastated parts of southwest China's Chongqing Municipality.

As of 3 p.m. Tuesday, about 39,000 people have been evacuated with more than one million people in nine districts or counties in the northeast of the municipality suffering the effects of the storms, said the municipal government.

The downpours also caused 2,251 houses to collapse and damaged 25,000 others.

Direct economic losses total more than one billion yuan (about 167 million U.S. dollars).

Landslides formed two barrier lakes in Fengjie County. Water volume in the barrier lake at Wushan village has reached 800,000 cubic meters with a depth of 30 meters. The water level is rising at a speed of one meter per hour, said the municipal flood control headquarters.

More than 1,100 residents threatened by the lake have been evacuated. Another barrier lake threatens 400 residents.

In Gulu township of Wuxi County, dozens of soldiers have evacuated 580 students and teachers from a middle school besieged by floodwater by Tuesday night. They are rescuing 1,000 more people from the school.

The Chongqing government has earmarked 70 million yuan for disaster relief.

The missing include 11 coal miners, buried by a landslide on Monday morning. Enditem