Floods in north and central China have killed at least 78 people, with scores of others reported missing, officials and state media have said.
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Nine people have been killed and 11 are missing in neighbouring Hebei province, authorities in its Xingtai city said on social media late on Friday. Photos circulating online show dramatic images of drowned children lying in mud.
Local deputy Communist party secretary Wang Qingfei drew ire for earlier comments that there had been “no casualties” in the flood, the Beijing News said.
Other online footage showed locals clashing with phalanxes of police, with one video showing police lining up to form a road blockade that the person filming claimed was meant to stop residents from travelling to Beijing to report the incident.
The Daxian village in Xingtai city was almost wiped out when it was suddenly swamped by a flash flood in the early hours of Wednesday as villagers were asleep.
Around 78 people are missing in the northern province of Hebei after rain triggered floods and landslides, the Xinhua news agency reported, citing the civil affairs department.
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The summer rains have been especially heavy in China this year and the government has said more than 200 people have been killed as a result of the weather.
