140 now dead after 7 days of heavy rains across China

By Mahmut Atanur

BEIJING (AA) - The death toll after a week of heavy rains caused massive flooding across China has hit 140, with more than 26 million people in 11 provinces reported to be affected.

China Central Television reported Thursday that 140 people had been killed as of late Wednesday, while 41 people remain missing,

More than 1.6 million people have had to be relocated with waters continuing to wreak havoc across rural communities.

President Xi Jinping has ordered the army and the police to send more troops to support flood control and disaster relief in provincial regions battered by the rainstorms.

Most of the regions are along the Yangtze River.