Beijing on alert as heavy rains batter northern China

BEIJING: Heavy rains battered northern China on Monday, washing away cars and inundating subway stations, with millions of people in Beijing and its surrounding areas warned by authorities to stay at home.

Deadly storm Doksuri has swept northwards over the country since Friday, when it hit southern Fujian province after scything through the Philippines as a typhoon.

Hundreds of bus services in the capital were suspended, according to state news agency Xinhua, while the city government issued the highest flood warning for the suburban Dashihe River.

Chen Hong, a resident of the southern Fengtai district, shared footage with AFP that showed a parked van half-submerged in fast-flowing brown water on Monday morning as the rain continued to fall.