An elderly man was killed and more than 2,440 people in southwest China's Sichuan Province were evacuated Friday as heavy rainfall over the past two days have caused floods in parts of the province, local authorities said.

In the city of Deyang, a farmer was killed after his home collapsed amid heavy rain, said a spokesman with the provincial flood control office.

Over 2,000 people in Wangcang County in the city of Guangyuan were forced to leave their homes due to flooding, said the spokesman.

Another 440 people living in areas downstream of reservoirs in the city of Mianyang have also been evacuated, he said.

The torrential rains also disrupted air traffic in the provincial capital Chengdu, stranding thousands of passengers.

The city's airport had been closed for two hours at noon and a total of 130 flights were delayed while 25 others were cancelled, according a statement from the airport.

Twenty-four planes were forced to land at nearby airports, said the statement.

About 7,000 passengers were still stranded by late afternoon.

Heavy rainfall also pounded parts of the country's northern and eastern areas, including Beijing, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and the provinces of Hebei and Shandong.

In Inner Mongolia, over 2,000 people were forced to evacuate their homes Friday after a swollen river burst its banks.

The dyke breach, which submerged over 100,000 mu (about 6,667 hectares) of farmland in Kailu County, had been narrowed to 10 meters Friday night from 30 meters in the morning, according to the county government's information office.

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