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1st Ld-Writethru: Heavy rain in N. China leaves 164 dead

Xinhua, July 25, 2016 Adjust font size:

Heavy rain across north and northeast China last week has left 164 people dead and 125 missing, according to the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

As of 9:00 a.m. Monday, 10 provincial-level regions had been battered by the bad weather. In the hardest hit provinces of Henan and Hebei, 514,000 people have been displaced and nearly 125,000 people are in urgent need of basic living assistance.

Some 126,000 houses collapsed and 344,000 houses were damaged to varying degrees. Floods also destroyed 1.18 million hectares of crops. Total direct economic losses have been estimated at 31.14 billion yuan (4.7 billion U.S. dollars).

Police have been urged to prepare for more rescue and relief missions, said Meng Jianzhu, head of the Commission for Political and Legal Affairs of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, during a police inspection in Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei Province.

Meng praised the police's bravery and loyalty, but warned that the situation remained dangerous and the task ahead tough.

Police should also focus on maintaining law and order in disaster-hit regions, he said.

Two police officers were killed and a dozen injured during rescue and relief missions. Endi