Massive floods devastate China

Landslides triggered by torrential rain in southern China have killed at least 12 people and injured 24, while thousands of residents escaped unhurt after a rain-swollen river flooded their villages, the government said today, as the region braced for more heavy rain.

The landslides occurred yesterday in Wuzhou, a city in the Guangxi region, during nine hours of heavy downpour, the official Xinhua News Agency said.