Weather disasters claimed 21 lives and injured 29 others in northeast China's Liaoning Province in June, according to the provincial meteorological bureau on Sunday.

One person was reported missing, according to the bureau.

Nine people were killed and one other went missing in rainstorms which hit the province last month. The rainstorms damaged 27,633 hectares of cropland and caused an economic loss of 856.89 million yuan (about US$117 million) to the province, the bureau's figures show.

Lightning killed 12 persons seriously injured another one, bringing an economic loss of 255,000 yuan to the province in the same month.

Last month, hailstorms hit 14 counties and cities in the province, leaving 28 people injured. The hailstorms also destroyed 1.3 million fruit trees in the affected areas totaling 28,317.7 hectares.

Lightning claimed 18 lives in the province between January 1 and July 5 this year.

Local meteorological departments have called on local governments to take measures to prevent damages and cut losses caused by lightning and other weather disasters.

(Xinhua News Agency July 10, 2006)