BEIJING: A landslide in a mountainous area of central China has left eight people dead, state media said on Sunday, as parts of the country were placed on high alert for bad weather.

Heavy rain caused a deadly landslide in a village in Hunan province, according to state broadcaster CCTV. Four houses collapsed and all eight missing people “have been found with no vital signs”, the channel said.

China has been experiencing extreme weather conditions and unusually high temperatures in recent months.

Climate change driven by human-emitted greenhouse gases makes extreme weather events more frequent and intense, and China is the world’s biggest emitter. Meteorological authorities issued several red alerts — the highest in China’s four-tier warning system — for torrential rain on Sunday, including in Hubei and Anhui provinces.

Downpours in southern and densely populated Guangdong province sparked inundations and landslides, with at least 38 people killed in China’s manufacturing heartland, state media said.

While torrential rains have struck the south, northern China has sweated in temperatures well above 35° Celsius, including in Beijing, where the mercury exceeded 40°C last week.

Published in Dawn, June 24th, 2024