Floods kill 36 in southwest China

Jun 20, 2007 02:27 PM EDT

BEIJING - Floods and landslides triggered by heavy rain have killed 36 people and left 13 missing in southwest and central China, state media reported Wednesday.

The deaths are in addition to the 128 who died last week from flooding in other parts of southern China.

Xinhua News Agency said the latest deaths came in Chongqing municipality and in Sichuan and Guizhou provinces in southwest China and in Hubei province in central China.

About 292,000 people were relocated as of Wednesday from the floods, a spokesman with the Ministry of Civil Affairs was quoted as saying.

The flood also triggered landslides, inundated croplands and cut off telecommunications, electricity and water supplies, he said.

More than 17,000 homes were destroyed, Xinhua said.

"The rain is continuing in those areas and the risk of disasters will increase," the spokesman was quoted as saying.