China sends team to Guangxi for vehicle plunge rescue

China's national flood-control authorities sent a working team to South China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region on Sunday to assist search-and-rescue operations after a vehicle fell into a river, the Ministry of Emergency Management said.

Nine people are missing after a vehicle fell into a river in Huanjiang Maonan autonomous county, Guangxi, according to local authorities. The team, dispatched by the office of the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters, went to Luoyang town, where the incident occurred around 9:30 pm on Friday. The vehicle was carrying 15 people, one of whom has since been found dead, with five confirmed survivors.

The move came as the headquarters office and the ministry held a joint consultation with meteorological, water resources and natural resources authorities, as well as 17 provincial-level regions, to assess the latest round of heavy rainfall and deploy flood-control measures.

A Level-IV flood-control emergency response remained in place for Guizhou, Hubei and Chongqing, the lowest in China's four-tier system.

Between Sunday and Tuesday, widespread heavy rain is expected to move eastward and southward, bringing risks of mountain torrents, flooding in small and medium-sized rivers, reservoir hazards, urban waterlogging and other geological disasters.

Authorities urged stronger monitoring, early warnings, risk inspections and timely evacuations, especially near flood-prone roads, bridges, schools, hospitals, nursing homes and tourist sites.