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YANGON: Monsoon floods in a rebel-held Myanmar town on the country’s mountainous border with China have killed six people, a spokesman for the armed group controlling the area said Wednesday.
The northern town of Laiza bordering China’s Yunnan province has reported flash flooding since early Monday, when muddy waist-high waters began to stream through the streets.
Laiza is a stronghold of the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), which has for decades commanded control of its own ethnic enclave and emerged as one of the most powerful factions in Myanmar’s civil war.
“A lot of water flowed down the mountain to the river,” said KIA spokesman Naw Bu.
“The flow of water was too strong and destroyed areas surrounding the river,” he added. “Six people were killed in the flood and 100 houses were destroyed.”
Rescue operation had begun on Wednesday, he said, but were being hampered by road blockages.
“All of the roads have been damaged and the roads disappeared in some areas,” said one resident, who declined to be named for security reasons. “The water rose suddenly.”
More than 3.5 million people are currently displaced in Myanmar amid the civil war sparked by a 2021 coup, many sheltering in temporary camps, leaving them exposed to the elements.
The resident said flooding was “terrible” around local camps for the displaced where some shelters had been swept away and people had been wounded.
Myanmar is in the midst of its monsoon season when daily deluges are common.
But scientists say hazardous weather events are becoming more frequent and severe around the world as a result of human-driven climate change.

TAIPEI: An outbreak of the chikungunya virus in China has prompted authorities to take preventive measures from mosquito nets and clouds of disinfectant, threatening fines for people who fail to disperse standing water and even deploying drones to hunt down insect breeding grounds.
More than 7,000 cases of the disease have been reported as of Wednesday, focused largely on the manufacturing hub of Foshan near Hong Kong, which has reported only one case. Numbers of new cases appear to be dropping slowly, according to authorities.
Chikungunya is spread by mosquitoes and causes fever and joint pain, similar to dengue fever, with the young, older people and those with pre-existing medical conditions most at risk.
Chinese state television has shown workers spraying clouds of disinfectant around city streets, residential areas, construction sites and other areas where people may come into contact with virus-bearing mosquitos that are born in standing water.
Workers sprayed some places before entering office buildings, a throwback to China’s controversial hard-line tactics used to battle the COVID-19 virus.
People who do not empty bottles, flower pots or other outdoor receptacles can be subject to fines of up to 10,000 yuan ($1,400) and have their electricity cut off.
The US has issued a travel advisory telling citizens not to visit China’s Guangdong province, the location of Donguan and several other business hubs, along with countries such as Bolivia and island nations in the Indian Ocean. Brazil is among the othe rcountries hit hard by the virus.
Heavy rains and high temperatures have worsened the crisis in China, which is generally common in tropical areas but came on unusually strong this year.
China has become adept at coercive measures that many nations consider over-the-top since the deadly 2003 SARS outbreak. This time, patients are being forced to stay in hospital in Foshan for a minimum of one week and authorities briefly enforced a two-week home quarantine, which was dropped since the disease cannot be transmitted between people.
Reports also have emerged of attempts to stop the virus spread with fish that eat mosquito larvae and even larger mosquitos to eat the insects carrying the virus.
Meetings have been held and protocols adopted at the national level in a sign of China’s determination to eliminate the outbreak and avoid public and international criticism.