The death toll from Beijing's devastating downpours on July 21 has risen to 79 as a body was newly found, the city's floods control and drought relief office said Sunday.

The body of Zhang Yuxiang, 33, was retrieved at Sanfu Village, Hebei Township of Fangshan District, according to a statement issued by the office on its website on Sunday.

The statement did not mention when the body was found.

It also said two of the 10 unidentified bodies previously discovered had been identified.

Beijing city government substantially raised the death toll to 77 from 37 on the night of July 26, and the number was not updated until Thursday, as another body was found from a pond near Dongguan village of Fangshan.

Nearly two weeks ago, the Chinese capital received the heaviest rain in six decades. Average precipitation hit 170 mm, while a township in the suburban district of Fangshan recorded 460 mm of rainfall.

(Xinhua News Agency August 5, 2012)