Storms snuff out 40 lives in China

The toll due to hailstorms and torrential rains in a mountainous county in northwest China has risen to 40, officials said late on Saturday.

At least 18 people were still missing while 30,000 residents have been evacuated after storms hit Minxian county in Gansu province three days ago, Xinhua reported.

Around 360,000 people have been affected, and 87 hospitalised.

Roads were blocked, houses collapsed, farmland destroyed, power supply and telecommunications service disrupted due to the extreme weather, officials said.

Tents, beds and relief supplies have been sent to the disaster-stricken area.

Minxian is a mountainous county with a population of 450,000. It is located 150 km from Zhouqu, where a rain-triggered mudslide killed 1,500 people in August 2010.