M A I N   N E W S

114 die in China floods

Beijing, September 7
Floods and landslides triggered by torrential rains have killed at least 114 persons and left over 77 others missing in south-west China with the army being deployed to rescue thousands of marooned people, local officials said today.

At least 81 persons were killed and another 50 were missing in Sichuan province while 33 people died and 27 were missing in Chongqing municipality, Xinhua News Agency quoted the officials as saying.

More than 4,50,000 people have been evacuated from the deadly storms, with 1,27,000 homes destroyed or damaged, 400 bridges collapsed and at least 720 km of roads and thousands of acres of farmland washed away. Over 5,000 army and navy personnel were deployed in Sichuan province to help after five days of continual downpours, the report said.

Many of the dead and missing in Sichuan were from Dazhou city. “It is the heaviest rain in years and there are 41 dead and 30 missing in Dazhou alone,” a Sichuan disaster relief bureau official said. — PTI