Torrential rain has sparked deadly floods along the Yangtze River inflicting a rising death toll over the past few days and sweeping away key transport networks across central and eastern China.

State officials placed the number of fatalities at 186 with another 45 people missing as of Sunday, according to the South China Morning Post. Eight of those deaths resulted from a factory wall collapsing and burying workers alive.

The heavy downpour has seen 1,200 counties in 26 provinces and municipalities inundated, the Post reports, with the provinces of Zhejiang, Anhui, Hubei, Hunan, Chongqing and Guizhou bearing the brunt of the damage. Around 1.5 million people have been evacuated and 56,000 homes destroyed, with heavy rain washing away key rail networks and forcing many city roads to shut down.

As of yet there is no end in sight to the severe weather. Tropical storm Nepartak is forecast to hit southeastern China in the coming days.

[SCMP]

Get The Brief. Sign up to receive the top stories you need to know right now. Please enter a valid email address. Sign Up Now Check the box if you do not wish to receive promotional offers via email from TIME. You can unsubscribe at any time. By signing up you are agreeing to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Thank you! For your security, we've sent a confirmation email to the address you entered. Click the link to confirm your subscription and begin receiving our newsletters. If you don't get the confirmation within 10 minutes, please check your spam folder.

Contact us at letters@time.com.