China has evacuated thousands of residents after a landslide blocked a river and created a barrier lake that threatened to submerge neighbouring villages, as large parts of the country reeled under some of the heaviest rainfall in decades. The landslide occurred on Tuesday when 1.5 million cubic metres of earth fell into a tributary of the Yangtze river near the city of Enshi in Hubei province, the Xinhua news agency said, citing local flood control authorities. China’s state weather bureau said on Wednesday that the country was hit by fresh rounds of torrential rain this week, further raising flood risks throughout the country. Red alerts have been declared in the provinces of Anhui and Jiangxi, which are bisected by the Yangtze. China’s water resources ministry also warned on Tuesday that water levels in the Yangtze and adjoining lakes would continue to rise. Ministry officials said they […]