12 killed as rainstorms batter southern China

Torrential weekend rains killed at least 12 people in China's southwestern Sichuan province, state media reported yesterday, as rising waters sparked mass evacuations during the annual flood season.

The toll from the heavy rainstorm in Mianning county included two people who died when several vehicles plunged into a river after flooding damaged a highway.

Ten others were missing and more than 7,000 had been evacuated from their homes, the official Xinhua news agency said.