Torrential rains in Beijing and surrounding areas led to the deaths of at least 34 people as severe downpours set off flooding and landslides that trapped residents in their villages and prompted China’s leader to order “all-out” rescue efforts. The Chinese state broadcaster, CCTV, said on Tuesday that 28 people had died in Miyun, a mountainous district of northeastern Beijing, the Chinese capital, where more than 21 inches of rain had fallen as of midnight. Two other people died in Yanqing, a district in the capital’s northwest, and four people in neighboring Hebei Province were killed by a landslide caused by the heavy rain. The broadcaster noted that rain had pounded the area as early as Saturday but did not specify exactly when the deaths had been reported. Wang Haha, a 25-year-old from Yangjiatai, a village in Hebei, said her family was stuck in their village because roads leading to it had been blocked by landslides. She said that rescue workers had not yet arrived and she had only recently managed to get in contact with her relatives. “Mudslides, landslides — villagers are trapped inside and can’t escape,” she said. Ms. Wang, who was not in the village when the rains started, said some residents managed to leave by wading through floodwaters and climbing over mountain roads. “Some have managed to get out. But not all of them, just a few.”

Full report : ‘Villagers Are Trapped’ as Heavy Rains in Beijing Leave at Least 30 Dead.