460 evacuated after floods, landslides damage SW China railway

Railway authorities on Tuesday evacuated 460 villagers and workers who had been trapped after floods and landslides snarled traffic on a pivotal railway linking southwest China's Sichuan and Yunnan provinces.

A section of China's Chengdu-Kunming Railway. [File Photo: IC]

China Railway Chengdu Group said the rain-triggered disasters damaged tracks at two sections of the Chengdu-Kunming Railway in Ganluo County, Yi Autonomous Prefecture of Liangshan, Sichuan Province, on Monday.

The company said 460 construction workers on the railway and local residents were cut off from the outside world by the disasters. Rescue vehicles were deployed on Tuesday to transport them to safety.

Seven people, including six construction workers and a resident, however, remained missing after the rainstorm, local authorities have said.

Workers are still repairing the damaged tracks, which has caused a traffic standstill that continued into Tuesday.

It has been raining heavily in Sichuan since Sunday. As of 3 p.m. Monday, the rainstorm has affected around 24,000 people in the province and forced the evacuation of around 2,500 residents.