2010-04-23 00:30

GUILIN - A freak spring flood has killed two people and forced 8,872 to flee their homes in a southern Chinese city, local authorities said Thursday.

Torrential rain, which fell from Monday to Thursday, also led to the collapse of 1,275 houses in Guilin, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, according to the flood control and drought relief headquarters in Guilin.

Yangshuo county in Guilin recorded the largest rainfall of more than 101 mm from Monday to early Tuesday.

"The flood waters in our county are more than 10 meters high," said a villager surnamed Jiang from Quanzhou County of Guilin.

The two dead, Jiang Jiayou and Tang Jiyu, were from Quanzhou County, Guilin Municipal Civil Affairs Bureau said in a statement.

Jiang, 76, was checking his old home, where no one lived, Tuesday and was crushed to death when the house collapsed. Tang, 46, drowned in flash flood while trying to remove his belongings from his house at 2 a.m. Tuesday, it said.

Shipping on the Lijiang River was halted after its water level rose to 147.1 meters, 1.4 meters above the warning level.

The flood, the earliest on record, caused direct economic losses of 68 million yuan ($10 million). Floods usually come in May and June, according to local meteorological authorities.