Heavy rainfall whipped the western part of Beichuan Qiang autonomous county in Sichuan province from 8 pm on Friday to 8 am on Saturday, leaving six dead and 12 missing.

The rainfall has impacted 22,300 people in 13 townships and seriously damaged roads in some townships and widely disrupted power and communications, according to the county government information office.

In the early hours of Saturday, heavy rainfall in upstream Qingpian and Baishi townships caused the water level to surge and flood the streets of Baishi township, inundating houses along the streets.