Gantang (China) (AFP) – The death toll from devastating floods in southern China's Guangxi region rose to 39 on Thursday, with nine people still missing, state media reported, as residents went about cleaning up.
Issued on: 09/07/2026 - 10:10
3 min Reading time
Extreme weather has wreaked havoc on southern and central China this week, bringing torrential rain and severe flooding to Guangxi, with a super typhoon heading towards eastern provinces this weekend.Twenty-six deaths were linked to a dam breach at Liulan Reservoir, with seven still missing there, state news agency Xinhua reported.On Thursday there were road blocks on the way to Liulan, AFP reporters saw.Coaches filled with volunteers and the Chinese People's Militia -- a reserve army force of civilians -- were travelling towards the village.Liulan was not the only reservoir that burst, locals told AFP Thursday -- another smaller one near the town of Gantang also collapsed. A man who gave his surname as Huang said they initially hadn't realised the severity of the situation, as "never in history had it ever been this bad"."We never received any warning. If we had received a warning, our losses would have been much less," he added.
