China flood peak hits Sichuan Province, 25 reported dead

The highest flood peak in the history of the Qujiang River passed through southwest China's Sichuan Province on Wednesday, leaving 25 people dead and 14 others missing, Xinhua said citing local authorities.

Torrential rains have pounded the province since Sept. 16, bringing water levels on the Qujiang River to 267.8 meters on Monday morning at the Sanhui monitoring station, nearly seven meters higher than the flood warning level, according to the Sichuan Water Resources Department.

The flooding left a great deal of damage in Sichuan. More than 83,000 houses collapsed, and direct economic losses totaled 13.3 billion yuan (2.1 billion U.S. dollars), according to the department.

A total of 101 people have died or gone missing due to flooding caused by heavy rains in nine provincial-level regions since Sept. 1, Shu Qingpeng, deputy director of the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters, said on Tuesday.

Shu said 6.18 million people in the provincial-level regions of Sichuan, Shaanxi, Henan, Hubei, Yunnan, Shandong, Guizhou, Gansu and Chongqing have been affected by the flooding.