A YOUNG woman was pronounced brain dead in hospital after she was buried by a landslide in Longgang during heavy rain accompanying Typhoon Neoguri on Saturday night.

The woman, identified only by her last name Wang, 22, suffered severe brain damage after she was hit on the head by a falling guardrail as she was passing a construction site in Buji Subdistrict, the Daily said.

According to a worker at the construction site who helped rescue Wang, the guardrail collapsed when an embankment gave way at the site near Dafen Oil Painting Village.

Wang's cousin, surnamed Zhang, said she and Wang were going to their cousin's home in Guifangyuan housing estate when the accident happened. "I was walking in front of her because the sidewalk was very narrow near the construction project. I heard a big bang behind me and could not see my cousin when I turned around. I knew she must have been buried in the pile of mud," said Zhang.

Workers and others at the construction site were called to help rescue Wang, who was later taken to a Buji hospital for emergency treatment before being transferred to Shenzhen No. 1 People's Hospital in Luohu District with serious brain damage. Doctors said Wang was already brain dead.

More than 100 flashfloods and landslides were reported citywide Saturday during the heavy downpour brought on by Neoguri, the first typhoon in South China this year.

More than 300 people in a housing complex in Caopu, Buji Subdistrict, were moved to safety amid fears of building collapses. Yesterday's Daily Sunshine said serious landslides were reported on the banks of the Buji River near the housing estate.

A woman in her 80s and an 11-year-old girl were confirmed dead after having been swept away by a flashflood in Henggang Subdistrict, Longgang, earlier media reports said.

Losses caused by the 10-hour rainstorm were estimated at 37 million yuan (US$5.3 million).

Neoguri made landfall at Yangdong County, Guangdong Province, at about 2:15 p.m. Saturday.

(Wei Jie)