Floods leave 1400 dead or missing in China

BEIJING: Floods and landslides due to heavy rains have left 1,400 people dead or missing in China since early this year and dislocated 134 million people, the Chinese Government said here today.

The floods and landslides have also inflicted losses to tune of $27 billion.

As of today, 928 people were killed and 477 missing, the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters, (SFDH) said in a statement.

Floods have affected a total of 134 million people in 28 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions, resulting in direct economic losses of $26.04 billion it said.

A total of 875,000 homes had collapsed, 9.61 million people have been evacuated and 8.76 million hectares of crops have been flooded nationwide, it said.

The SFDH statistics also showed that the direct economic losses caused by floods this year more than doubled the average level during the past ten years, and the number of homes that collapsed went up by 60 percent.

21 people were presumed killed and 58 houses destroyed yesterday when a major landslide hit Yaan city in Hanuyan county in Sichuan province.

Meanwhile, the death toll from a bridge collapse Saturday in central China's Henan Province has risen to 44 with 22 still missing.

The Yihe River Bridge collapsed on Saturday in Luanchuan County, Luoyang City, plunging nearly 100 people on it into the gushing waters.

Rescuers are continuing to search for the missing people, Xinhua reported.