Mudslides have killed at least 337 people, injured 214 others and left 1,148 missing in China ’s Gansu province up to August 9.

The disaster, triggered by heavy rainfalls and the worst flooding in many decades, has destroyed at least three villages and forced 45,000 locals to be evacuated.

Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao has called on rescuers to race against the clock as the weather forecast agency warned of rains to come on the weekend.

He also appealed for the timely supply of drinking water for tens of thousands of locals and an upgrade of the early-warning system.

As many as 4,500 soldiers, fire fighters and medical workers are engaged in rescue operations. The local administration has promised each flood-affected family 8,000 Yuan (1,200 USD) in urgent relief aid.

Beijing reported that prior to the mudslides in Gansu , floods across China had left over 2,100 people either dead or missing and displaced over 12 million others.

The Indian Government on August 9 confirmed 165 deaths from flooding in the Leh town of the State of Jammu and Kasmir. Among the deaths, 26 have been identified as Indian soldiers at a military station close to the border.

Floods have also left over 400 people injured and hundreds of others missing.

Local authorities added that 140 foreign tourists stranded in the Zanskar valley were flown back by helicopter while some 200 other foreign tourists stranded in the Ladakh mountains were retreating to safer areas.

The local administration has supplied 20,000 drinking water bottles by air to flood areas.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on August 9 unveiled a plan to launch an appeal to help Pakistan overcome the aftermath of its worst flood in history.

The UN leader estimated hundreds of millions of USD in urgent relief aid will be required to meet the needs of 14 million Pakistanis hit by the disaster.

He also called for medium- and long-term aid for the Islamic republic in South Asia .

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) earlier raised worries that the current flooding in Pakistan had caused an aftermath much worse than the tsunami that swept Asia in 2004, the earthquake that rocked Pakistan in 2005 and a recent earthquake in Haiti .

The national committee on flood and storm control in Pakistan confirmed at least 1,176 deaths and 4,717 others injured from the worst flood in the past 80 years.

The disaster has destroyed almost 300,000 homes, swept away some 800,000 ha of crops and affected over 1 million ha of cultivated land.

The Pakistani government said it has established at least 188 rescue stations in flood-hit areas across the country.

Foreign donors have committed 93 million USD in aid to Pakistan./.