BEIJING — Floods and landslides across Asia plunged millions into misery Sunday as rubble-strewn waters killed at least 127 in northwestern China and 4 million Pakistanis faced food shortages amid their country’s worst-ever flooding.
In Indian-controlled Kashmir, rescuers raced to find 500 people still missing in flash floods that have already killed 132, while North Korea’s state media said high waters had destroyed thousands of homes and damaged crops.
Terrified residents fled to high ground or upper stories of apartment buildings in China’s Gansu province after a debris-blocked river overflowed during the night, smashing buildings and overturning cars.
The official Xinhua News Agency said Sunday that authorities were seeking an estimated 1,300 people still missing in the latest deluge in a summer that has seen China’s worst seasonal flooding in a decade. That figure was down from 2,000 earlier in the day.
Worst hit was the county seat of Zhouqu in the province’s Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, where houses buckled and streets were filled with mud and water more than a yard deep.
The landslides struck after rains lashed China late Saturday, causing the Bailong River to burst its banks, Xinhua quoted the head of Zhouqu county, Diemujiangteng, as saying.
The devastation was worsened by flotsam that blocked the river upstream, creating a 2-mile-long lake that overflowed and sent waves of mud, rocks and water crashing down on the town, ripping houses from their foundations and tearing six-story apartment buildings in half.
Explosives experts were flying to the scene by helicopter to demolish the blockage and safely release potential floodwaters ahead of more rain forecast through Wednesday.
China Central Television said 45,000 people had been evacuated, but the region’s remote, mountainous location was hampering the emergency response.
Firefighters rescued 28 people Sunday, and the government allocated $73 million for recovery efforts, Xinhua said.
Around China, flooding has killed more than 1,100 people this year, with more than 600 still missing. The floods have caused tens of billions of dollars in damage across 28 provinces and regions.
In Pakistan, more than 1,500 people have been killed and millions more left begging for help following the worst floods in the country’s history. Prices of fruit and vegetables skyrocketed Sunday, with more than 1 million acres of crops destroyed and at least 4 million people in need of food assistance in the coming months.
In neighboring India, rescuers dug through crushed homes and piles of mud searching for 500 people still missing after flash floods sent massive mudslides down remote desert mountainsides in Indian-administered Kashmir, officials said. The death toll rose to 132 with about 500 others injured.
North Korea’s state media said 36,700 acres of farmland were submerged and 5,500 homes destroyed or flooded after recent heavy rains.
