Rainstorms kill 90 in China

At least 66 were killed and 50 were missing in Sichuan province while 24 people died and 27 were missing in Chongqing municipality.

"Among the dead and missing many are from Dazhou city. There are 41 dead and 30 missing there," Sichuan disaster relief bureau official surnamed Liu told AFP.

"It has mainly been caused by landslides and mountain torrents, mud and rock flows."

Tang Wanli, an official from the Chongqing civil affairs bureau, told AFP 24 people were dead and 27 were missing in his municipality.

He said Kai district, scene of a gas leak that killed 243 people in December last year, was completely flooded.

Heavy rain has been pounding the area since last Thursday.

Many of the deaths have been caused by flash flooding and sudden landslides, which have engulfed remote villages in the mountainous area.

Meteorologists said they expected the rain to continue until Tuesday.

China regularly suffers storms and severe flooding in its summer rainy season, and more than 800 people have died due to severe weather this year.

The latest downpours began last Thursday and have continued without halt for nearly five days, in what local officials have described as the heaviest rain in years.

At least 55 people are reported dead in Sichuan, and a further 21 in Chongqing, many of them killed when landslides engulfed their villages.