Flash floods and landslides triggered by heavy rain since Saturday have left eight people dead, 64 injured and more than three million people affected in and around Dazhou City, in southwest China's Sichuan Province, a local official said on Monday.

Three people died after landslides struck two villages in Dazhu and Daxian counties on Sunday morning and Monday morning, and five people died and two others were injured when a landslide partly demolished a plant dormitory building in Dazhou's Tongchuan District, said Tang Qilai, director of the Flood Prevention Office of Dazhou.

The disasters wrecked 2,170 houses, inundated 13 primary schools, and destroyed more than one million mu (67,000 hectares) of crop land, Tang said.

About 72,000 people had to be evacuated as a result of floods, which had also damaged irrigation, transportation and communication facilities, Tang said.

Local authorities have dispatched seven working teams to different regions to direct relief work, the official said.

(Xinhua News Agency June 19, 2007)