Kangding currently has three priests and two nuns serving 13,00 Catholics in the Garze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture.

In 1986 he applied to work in the autonomous region of Ganzi, Tibet. There, he taught in universities and worked in cultural offices in the rural countryside.

Other casualties were reported in cities including Ya'an, Ziyang and the Garze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture.

The heavy rains yesterday and today caused the landslides, said an official at the emergency headquarters of the Garze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, where Kangding is located.

A spreading grassland fire in Daofu County, Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Garze, Sichuan Province yesterday killed at least 22 people and 3 others were severely burned, Xinhua reports.