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China flood death toll: 910
12/08/2005 07:44 - (SA)
Beijing - Floods and related disasters have killed 910 people in China since May with another 218 missing, the International Red Cross said on Friday as it launched a $4.4m emergency appeal.
"Since the end of May, floods, typhoons and other disasters have hit 27 of Chinas 31 mainland provinces," the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said in a statement.
"Some 910 people are reported dead, 218 are unaccounted for and almost three million have been evacuated."
The information was provided to the federation by China's Red Cross, which obtained it from the Ministry of Civil Affairs, said Alistair Henley, head of the federation's regional delegation based in Beijing.
The figures, which include people killed in landslides and heavy rain, go up to August 10 and have yet to be made public by the ministry.
"It's not the worst since the 1998 floods, but one of the worst," Henley told AFP, referring to the most deadly floods in recent years.
"In some places, such as Guangxi, it's definitely the worst in recent years."
All told, the federation cited authorities saying over 134 million people have been affected and the flood season is far from over.
The Red Cross' appeal will focus on helping five provinces that are worst affected and which are some of the poorest in China - Anhui, Guangxi, Hunan, Jiangxi and Sichuan.
The international appeal aims to provide food and other aid to about 400 000 of the neediest people in these five provinces.
"Food is the top priority," the Red Cross said. "Several million hectares of land have been flooded. There has been widespread loss of crops and a large percentage of the people affected are subsistence farmers."
- AFP
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