China landslide death toll climbs to 8, 19 people still missing

A landslide that hit a village in southwestern China and caused a highway bridge to collapse killed at least eight people and left 19 missing, state media said Sunday.

The disaster occurred early Saturday morning near Kangding, in Garze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in southwestern Sichuan province.

A flash flood and mudslide caused the collapse of a highway bridge that linked two tunnels, with four cars carrying 11 people plummeting off it, state broadcaster CCTV said on Sunday.

One person was rescued but two others were found dead and eight were missing.

In the village of Ridi, near the collapsed bridge, six other people were killed and 11 were missing, according to CCTV.

China is experiencing a summer of extreme weather events, including torrential rains, flooding, landslides and record-high temperatures, which scientists say are made more frequent and intense by climate change.

Last month, the collapse of a highway bridge in northern Shaanxi province killed 38 people and left 24 missing, state media said on Friday.

Heavy rains in central China this week have also killed at least 30 people and left 35 missing, according to a provisional toll published on Thursday.

Swaths of eastern China have baked under a scorching heatwave this weekend, with temperatures in some areas reaching record highs.

The mercury reached 40.4 degrees Celsius (104.7 degrees Fahrenheit) in downtown Shanghai on Sunday, a record high this year, according to state media outlet The Paper.