Deadly rains pummel China

2005-06-23 07:49

Beijing - At least 80 people are dead and 38 are missing from torrential rains and floods swamping southern China, leading to the evacuation of nearly 700 000 people, state media and government bureaus reported on Thursday.

The heavy downpours have been pounding the region for a week and are not expected to let up until the weekend, the China Daily said.

Millions of people have been affected by the rain and floods which are the worst in the area for years.

China's civil affairs ministry issued a "level three alert" calling on the establishment of a joint ministerial task force to address the disaster that has hit the Guangxi region and the nearby provinces of Guangdong and Fujian hardest.

Premier Wen Jiabao on Wednesday also called for an "all-out effort" to combat the floods and step up disaster relief and evacuation efforts.

Since June 16, 12 people in Fujian were confirmed dead due to the floods, while 36 died and 15 were missing in Guangdong. Another 27 have died and 20 are missing in Guangxi, the ministry said on its website.

State press reports put the total death toll at 80 and the numbers missing at 38.

Besides the three regions, flooding and landslides were causing death and destruction across the neighbouring provinces of Zhejiang, Jiangxi and Hunan, the ministry said.

Fatalities and losses in these regions were still being worked out, officials told Xinhua news agency.

About 35 million yuan ($4.2m) in relief funds was jointly issued on Wednesday by the civil and finance ministry to combat the disaster.

Meanwhile, rivers across the south were swelling with the Xijiang river in Guangxi nearly 9m above the warning line and breaching dikes in Wuzhou city where 20 000 residents were evacuated, reports said.

In neighbouring Guangdong province all major rivers were flowing near their warning levels, with waters highest on the Xijiang and Beijiang rivers, both tributaries of the Pearl.

The State Meteorological Bureau predicted that a rain belt over southern China would be in place at least through Friday and possibly longer.

The new casualty figures bring the reported death toll from heavy rains and flooding in China since May to more than 440.

That includes 117 who perished when a flash flood swept through a school in northeast China's Heilongjiang province on June 10.

Thousands of people perish every year from floods, landslides and mudflows in China, with millions left homeless.

- AFP