The recent spate of torrential rainfall has triggered severe landslides and mud-rock flows in Ya'an City in Southwest China's Sichuan province. By this morning, 19 people had been confirmed dead and 2 others missing.

Torrential rain on Monday night flooded the city and caused massive landslides. In a northern suburb, 7 houses and a factory were destroyed. Immediately following the incident, local authorities mobilized some 15 hundred people for rescue operations. They managed to save 12 people trapped by the landslides. Disaster relief efforts are still underway.

(Sources include China News Service & CCTV.com August 28, 2003)