The Yalu River that marks China's border with North Korea breached a dyke yesterday after torrential rain, inundating parts of the Chinese city of Dandong and forcing the evacuation of more than 50,000 people.

Flood waters punctured the dyke that stood between the river and an economic development zone in a low-lying part of Dandong, a port city.

The heavy rain and flooding cut rail service out of Dandong, destroyed more than 200 houses and left at least three people missing, in addition to the 51,000 evacuated to higher ground, local officials said.

It was not known whether the city of Sinuiju on the North Korean side of the river sustained any damage.

Much of North Korea's trade with the world passes through Sinuiju, forming a vital lifeline for the isolated, economically struggling country. Flooding in previous years has destroyed crops and pushed North Korea deeper into poverty, increasing its dependence on international food aid.

For China, the Dandong flooding is the latest disaster in the country's worst flood season in over a decade. Landslides caused by heavy rains have smothered communities in western China and accounted for most of the more than 2,500 people killed.

Rescuers today continued a search for more than 80 people missing since a hillside crashed through Puladi township in Yunnan province and killed 12 people.

The government's Central Weather Bureau yesterday forecast that heavy rains would strike much of the country through the weekend.

A brief report from North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency described Sinuiju and the surrounding area as having been ""severely affected".