Heaviest rain in 6 decades hits Beijing

The heaviest rain in 61 years in the Chinese capital Beijing has left 10 people dead as of 2 a.m. Sunday, according to a report by the China Network Television (CNTV), a national web-based TV broadcaster owned by the state-owned China Central Television. The biggest precipitation occurred in the suburban district of Fangshan, hitting 460 mm, according to the report. Almost 100,000 people were mobilized for rescue work during the strong rain that started trashing the city since Saturday morning. Many people in the city became volunteers in the rain, providing free ride for those trapped on the street, having people slept over at their places. The popular Sina Weibo, a Twitter-like microblogging site, was flooded with photos showing the city being swamped. Many accused that the city's drainage system was ill prepared for rainstorms.