<div style="text-align: justify; "><b style="font-size: 1rem;">Thirty-three people have been confirmed dead and 18 are still missing after Beijing's heaviest rains on record, officials said Wednesday.</b><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">China's capital has been hit by record downpours in recent weeks, damaging infrastructure and deluging swathes of the city's suburbs and surrounding areas.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Officials said Wednesday that 33 had died in the recent bad weather in Beijing, mainly by flooding and buildings collapsing, almost three times the figure given by officials last Tuesday.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"I would like to express my deep condolences to those who died in the line of duty and the unfortunate victims," Xia Linmao, Beijing's vice-mayor, told a press conference, according to state broadcaster CCTV.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Scores have died in the floods across northern China, with Beijing on Friday saying 147 deaths or disappearances last month were caused by natural disasters.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Of those, 142 were caused by flooding or geological disasters, China's Ministry of Emergency Management said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In Hebei province, which neighbours Beijing, 15 were reported to have died and 22 were missing.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">And in northeastern Jilin, 14 died and one person was reported missing on Sunday.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Further north in Heilongjiang, state media reported dozens of rivers saw water levels rise above "warning markers" in recent days.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"I still feel scared when I recall the recent flooding," Zheng Xiaokang, a police officer from the province's Jiangxi village, told the state-run Xinhua News Agency.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"In the face of the persistent downpour and rising river water, the consequences would have been devastating had we not managed to timely evacuate the villagers," Zheng said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">&nbsp;</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Millions of people have been hit by extreme weather events and prolonged heatwaves around the globe in recent weeks, events that scientists say are being exacerbated by climate change. AFP</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd24/kh</div>