Flash floods and hailstones have damaged nearly 12,000 mu (800 hectares) of cropland in parts of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, but no casualties was reported, local authorities said on Saturday.

The disasters, triggered by torrential rains, hit Wensu County and Wushi County in Aksu Prefecture in western Xinjiang Friday night, damaging cropland and flattening houses, according to the prefecture government.

In Wensu, flash floods lasted an hour, destroying hundreds of mu of field of paddy, water melon and corn.

Local government has dispatched emergency teams to the areas to direct relief work.

(Xinhua News Agency September 9, 2007)