{jcomments off}China's Three Gorges Dam has faced a second test as floods pushed the water in its reservoir to near its capacity, state media said.

Heavy rain on the Yangtze River created a surge that neared last week's record.

China's worst flooding in a decade has killed at least 823 people and left 437 missing, authorities said.

In the latest developments, 21 people are feared dead in a landslide, while 37 people are known to have died after a bridge collapsed.

Engineers at the Three Gorges Dam said the reservoir water level rose to 158m at 0800 local time (0000 GMT) on Wednesday, the state-run Xinhua news agency said.

The maximum capacity is 175m.

Authorities have warned communities downstream to prepare for rising water levels as the dam's huge spill gates release torrents of water.

The flow into the dam's reservoir, however, is lower than last week's peak of 70,000 cubic metres per second.

Crowded bridge

The heaviest rains in a decade have swollen rivers and caused damage across a wide swathe of central and southern China.

In south-western Sichuan province, dozens of houses in Shuanghe village were engulfed early on Tuesday morning after huge amounts of rock and mud slid down Ermanshan Mountain.

Twenty-one people are missing and feared dead.

Police rescued three survivors from the rubble including an 80-year-old, state media reported.

Thousands of villagers have been evacuated from their homes.

Thirty-seven people are now known to have died from a bridge collapse in central China's Henan province on Saturday, Xinhua said.

Local government officials say the water in the river under the bridge was usually less than a metre high.

But the area had been lashed by the heaviest rain in 100 years.

Water levels rose substantially and the river was flowing many times faster than normal when the bridge was washed away completely.

Witnesses said about 100 people were standing on the bridge when it collapsed and many people are still believed to be missing.

The economic losses across the country are estimated to be more than $22bn (£14bn).

China suffers monsoon-type rains every year but this year's rainfall has been the heaviest in more than a decade.

Source: bbc.co.uk

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