10 dead, 1.9 million affected in Beijing downpour

BEIJING - The heaviest rain in six decades in the Chinese capital on Saturday has left at least 10 people dead, Beijing authorities said Sunday.

About 1.9 million people were affected by the downpour which also incurred nearly 10 billion yuan ($1.6 billion) in economic losses, said Pan Anjun, deputy chief of the Beijing flood control headquarters.

As of 6 pm Sunday, about 66,000 residents have been relocated, including 20,990 in suburban district of Fangshan alone, Pan said.

The rains have caused multiple damages to roads and bridges, including 31 road cave-ins. More than 1,200 houses or buildings have seen leakages and 736 houses were flooded, Pan said.

The average precipitation reached 170 mm in Beijing as a whole while that of the urban area hit 225 mm in the 16 hours of heavy rains, Pan said.

In Fangshan, the maximum precipitation - 460 mm - was recorded in Hebei township. Road traffic in 12 townships was disrupted. Mobile telecommunication services and Internet access were cut off in six townships, the headquarters said.

As of 9 am, 11,827 commercial vehicle insurance claims and 1,968 traffic insurance claims were filed in Beijing, according to the statistics of the Beijing branch of the China Insurance Regulatory Commission.

The branch's statistics also show that claims made by farmers for the flooded farmland and the loss of livestock were valued at 51 million yuan.