BEIJING: Heavy rains in western China have killed at least another 51 people, state media said on Tuesday, adding to the more than 2,000 people who have died in flooding and landslides nationwide so far this year.

Storms in Longnan, in poor and remote Gansu province, killed 36, left 23 missing and prompted the evacuation of more than 120,000 residents because of landslides and rising rivers, the official Xinhua news agency said.

The neighbouring district of Zhouqu was inundated this month by an avalanche of mud following unusually strong downpours. The death toll has now risen to 1,254, with hundreds still unaccounted for.

More rain is expected in Zhouqu over the next few days, Xinhua said. In Sichuan province to the south, landslides have killed 15 people in Wenchuan, the report added.

Wenchuan was the epicentre of a massive earthquake two years ago, in which more than 80,000 people lost their lives. Another 1,000 people have died in floods in central, southern and northeast China so far this year.—Reuters