At least 205 people are dead, and hundreds more are missing, in catastrophic floods in north-western China which some local reports describe as the worst in the area for more than a century. The area has seen a week of torrential rain, and in the worst affected area - south of the city of Xian - close to half a metre of rain fell in two days, in what is normally an arid part of China. Rivers that had been dry for years turned into raging torrents, sweeping away roads, destroying tens of thousands of homes, and bringing down a railway bridge in Xian just three minutes after a train crossed it. A huge rescue operation is under way, including army units specially formed to deal with flood emergencies, but the number of dead is expected to rise.

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