In northwest China's Shaanxi Province a total of 21 people have now been confirmed dead and another 18 are still missing as a result of flooding, triggered by heavy rain last Saturday.

By Tuesday morning, the flood had affected 660,000 people in 16 counties and forced the evacuation of 38,100, the provincial government reported in a press release.

According to government sources nearly 20,000 hectares of cropland were ruined and 9,000 houses collapsed when heavy rain hit the northern, central and southern parts of the province between Saturday and Monday.

The rain caused direct economic losses of 568 million yuan (US$73 million).

The rainstorms also disrupted traffic on the highway to Beijing and cut power supplies and communications in some counties.

Precipitation totaled 295.7 mm in Danfeng county. Shangluo city, in the same county, suffered the most from the rainstorm.

The provincial treasury has allocated 3.5 million yuan (US$450,000) for relief funds to the flood stricken areas.

Natural disasters, including floods, landslides and lightning, have killed more than 700 people in China this year.

In Shanxian county, central China's Henan Province, 69 miners have been trapped for more than 50 hours since floods swamped a coal mine on Sunday morning.

(Xinhua News Agency July 31, 2007)