Global Courant
BEIJING — Nine people are missing in central China after a landslide triggered by heavy rains amid flooding and scorching temperatures across much of the country, authorities said on Sunday.
Five people have been pulled from the rubble at a highway construction site in central Hubei province, where the accident occurred on Saturday. Crews were still excavating in hopes of finding more survivors.
Tens of thousands of people have been transferred to shelters amid severe flooding in northern, central and southeastern China. Seasonal flooding is a regular occurrence in China, but this year’s rising waters have been accompanied by unusually prolonged periods of high temperatures.
With more than 9 million square kilometers (4 million square miles) of land area, China is simultaneously hit by heat waves, floods and drought this summer.
Cities have opened their bomb shelters to provide residents with relief from the heat.
Earlier this week, Beijing reported more than nine consecutive days of temperatures above 35 degrees Celsius, an unprecedented record since 1961.
Authorities have issued health warnings and, in the capital and elsewhere, suspended outdoor work, though many workers continued to deliver parcels, lay bricks and transport goods for fear of a faltering economic recovery.
So far, two people have died in Beijing from the scorching heat. Health authorities said a guide collapsed and died of heat stroke on Sunday while giving a tour of the Summer Palace – a sprawling, 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 from the heat, but did not provide details.
Chinese cities such as Chongqing, a southwestern metropolis known for its hot summers, have been using their air raid tunnels as public cooling centers for years.
The shelters are now often equipped with seats and provide access to water, refreshments, medicines for sunstroke and in some cases amenities such as Wi-Fi, television and table tennis equipment.
Weather authorities warned on Thursday that severe drought in northern China threatens crops and strains overburdened power grids. Meanwhile, severe flooding in southern China has displaced thousands of people in recent weeks.
The global average temperature set a new unofficial record on Thursday, the third milestone in a week already rated the hottest on record.
