Floods, landslides kill 27 in China
2007-07-31

Nations China States Hubei Anhui Shanxi Guizhou Neimenggu Shaanxi Event 2007 China Flood

Water levels were set to peak Tuesday at China's huge Three Gorges Dam as another 27 deaths were reported from flooding and landslides in different parts of the country, state media said.

Heavy rains also closed Beijing's airport, stranding almost 10,000 passengers as nearly every departing flight was canceled Monday night, Xinhua News Agency said.

Gates on the Three Gorges Dam in central Hubei province were opened to allow water to flow out, Xinhua said, but heavy rains meant inflows would be greater with a peak expected sometime Tuesday.

"The safety of the dam will be tested," a worker in the dam's operation department was quoted as saying.

Two-way traffic at the Three Gorges ship lock was halted Monday because of the water levels.

The Three Gorges Dam, the world's biggest hydropower project, was promoted by the government as a way to control devastating flooding on the Yangtze River and as a clean power source.

In northwestern Shaanxi province, 16 were killed and 14 were missing after downpours hit the central and southern areas of the province, Xinhua said. The other deaths were in the Inner Mongolia region, and in Hubei, Guizhou, Shanxi and Anhui provinces.

The 27 deaths come after Xinhua reported that floods, landslides and mud flows triggered by torrential rains had killed 652 people in China so far this year.