Disasters triggered by rainstorm have killed at least 43 people
in southwest China's Sichuan Province and Chongqing Municipality over the past week, the
local government confirmed on Saturday.
A massive mud-rock flow in the county of Jiulong, in the Tibetan
Autonomous Prefecture of Garze, in western Sichuan, killed 12
villagers and injured another 18 following heavy rainfall Thursday
and Friday, a spokesman with the county government said.
Heavy rainfall also caused a landslide in Shimian County in
Sichuan's central western city of Ya'an, where a bus was knocked
off a highway by a falling rock on Friday night, killing nine
people and injuring 14.
The city government of Ya'an closed the Shimian section of the
highway for a safety overhaul on Saturday.
An earlier report said a landslide triggered by rainstorm last
Sunday killed seven and left three missing in Leibo County of the
Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture.
The 10 victims, including three men and seven women, were from
farming families of the Yi minority. The youngest was only two
years old, said Zhou Gaopeng, director of the county's disaster
relief office.
At least five people were killed by lightning strikes between
Sunday and Wednesday in the disaster-hit areas in western Sichuan,
the provincial government said.
It said nine people remained missing after being washed away by
mountain torrents or mud slides.
In the neighboring Chongqing Municipality, seven children died
and 44 were injured on Wednesday when lightning struck their
schoolroom in the village of Xingye more than 300 km from downtown
Chongqing.
Three adults also died in Chongqing when the most destructive
rainstorm so far this year hit the eastern and southeastern suburbs
on Wednesday, two of whom were killed by lightning, the other died
after he was buried under ruins of his toppled house.
The rain in Chongqing lasted for 32 hours, making it necessary
to evacuate 112,300 people from their homes and caused a direct
economic loss of 573 million yuan (US$73.5 million), the municipal
government said.
Ministry of Civil Affairs sent a relief team to the disaster-hit
areas on Saturday, bringing tents, quilts, clothing, food and
medication.
The ministry said about 32,000 people had been relocated as
rainstorms inundated 500 houses and damaged 5,800 dwellings in
Sichuan.
In Jiulong county alone, about 16,200 people were affected by
the disaster, which destroyed 1,300 hectares of farmland, washed
away 2,175 head of cattle and toppled more than 3,000 houses.
The ministry placed Sichuan's direct economic losses at 58
million yuan (US$7.4 million).
The disaster also destroyed more than 4,000 meters of a pivotal
highway linking the western outback with Sichuan's provincial
capital Chengdu, and traffic has yet to resume as of Saturday.
(Xinhua News Agency May 27, 2007)