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Mudslide, lightning kill 43
26/05/2007 22:17 - (SA)
Shanghai - Mudslides and floods caused by
torrential rains, and lightning strikes in southwestern China's
Sichuan province have killed 43 people and left many homeless
over the past week, the Xinhua news agency said on Saturday.
Twelve of the deaths took place in the province's Jiulong
county, while nine people died when a bus was caught in a
landslide on a Sichuan highway. The bus slid down a 10-meter
slope after it was hit by a falling rock, Xinhua said.
Another landslide, also triggered by a rainstorm, killed
seven in Leibo county, it said.
Twelve people were missing after being washed away by
mountain torrents or mud slides, Xinhua added.
The rest of the deaths were caused by floods or lightning
strikes, Xinhua said.
Lightning struck an elementary school in southwest China's
Chongqing municipality on Wednesday, killing seven children and
injuring 40 pupils and teachers, it said.
The Ministry of Civil Affairs has dispatched a rescue team
to the province, it said.
About 32,000 people had been relocated as rainstorms
inundated 500 houses and damaged 5,800 dwellings in Sichuan,
Xinhua said, citing the ministry. Farms and some roads and
bridges had also been damaged, it said.
The rain in Chongqing lasted for 32 hours, forcing the local
government to evacuate 112,300 people from their homes -- which
caused a direct economic loss of 573 million yuan ($73.5
million), Xinhua cited the Chongqing government as saying.
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