Concentrated torrential rains have struck parts of Liaoning Province, an industrial base in northeast China, resulting in a serious flooding and the collapse of a key bridge, according to local sources.

The bridge destroyed by the flooding is known as Xiongyue Bridge on a trunk highroad connecting Heihe, a border city in Heilongjiang Province, and Dalian, a port city in Liaoning, early on Wednesday and it is unknown whether there was any casualty in the bridge collapse.

Currently, traffic on the Heihe-Dalian Highway was halted temporarily, said sources from Liaoning Provincial Bureau of Communications.

According to Liaoning Provincial Meteorological Observatory, it started to pour torrential rains to rainstorm on Monday in cities of Dalian, Dandong, western Shenyang, Anshan, southern Yingkou, central Fushun and Panjin, plus moderate to heavy rains in Shenyang, Liaoyang, Benxi, central Yingkou.

Panjin, where it rained rainstorm since Monday night, had 145 mm of precipitation in just seven hours, which led to waterlogging in downtown areas of the city.

The provincial meteorological observatory issued 10 rounds of rainstorm warning signals between Monday and Tuesday and offered guidelines to prevent damages from rainstorms.  

(Xinhua News Agency August 2, 2006)