Torrential rain and ensuing flood claimed seven lives with another one still missing in the northern areas of south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, local flood-control and drought relief headquarters said Tuesday.

Three people were killed Sunday by downpour-triggered floods in Hechi City and four more were killed in Liuzhou City, a manufacturing base. One person has been missing after a ferry boat capsized in surging floods in Hezhou City.

Torrential rain and floods sweeping the northern parts of Guangxi since late last week. About 1.52 million people were affected and direct economic losses of about 369 million yuan (US$44.5 million) were incurred by 12:00 Monday noon, said the flood-control and drought relief headquarters.

According to local hydrological stations, heavy rain will continue in the coming 3 to 5 days, mainly concentrating on areas around Liuzhou, Guigang, Guilin and Wuzhou. Water level in Wuzhou City is expected to surpass 24 meters, 7 meters higher than the warning level.
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(Xinhua News Agency June 21, 2005)