Floods triggered by rainstorms in the past ten days have left 32 people dead and three missing in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, local authorities said on Thursday.

From July 16 to 20, rainstorms and floods hit the eastern and northern areas of the region, leaving 30 dead and three missing, the regional civil affairs department said.

Two farmers in Huocheng County in northern Xinjiang were swept away by floods triggered by heavy rain on Tuesday night and died.

Natural disasters such as floods and mud-rock flows since May have destroyed or damaged the homes of 160,000 people and affected one million, said an official with the department.

The disasters included an earthquake measuring 5.7 on the Richter scale in Tekes County last Friday, which affected 28,000 people but caused no human casualties. "Most of the homeless are staying with relatives, schools, government buildings or tents provided by governments," said a department official.

The local governments have provided 1,700 tents, 5,600 quilts and 800 tons of grain in addition to instant noodles, edible oil and fuel to the disaster-hit areas, the official said.

China's death toll from natural disasters this year to July 16 was 715 with 129 missing, according to the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

(Xinhua News Agency July 27, 2007)