In China, heavy rains have left over 1100 people dead in the north west Gansu province with new floods leaving hundereds missing. So far, 1,117 people have been confirmed dead in Zhouqu town which was devastated by landslides. Thousands of soldiers and rescuers are battling to clean up roads blocked by cascades of mud and sludge unleashed by storms overnight, complicating the task of getting food, water and medicine to those in need. According to state media, another 627 residents went missing at the weekend, with three more overnight when six houses were swept away in the new downpours. As rain fell intermittently today workers used diggers to clear the massive avalanche of mud and rocks that split the town in two. Fears of an outbreak of water-borne disease mounted, with corpses unclaimed and residents living in the rough without proper sanitary conditions. Senior health ministry official Zhang Guoxin said the priority would be to rebuild hospitals and clinics as soon as possible. The mudslides are the latest in a string of weather-related disasters as China battles its worst flooding in a decade. More than 2,100 people were left dead or missing and 12 million evacuated before the Gansu tragedy.