Death toll rose to 91 in a heavy flood in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province as of Sunday morning and 25 others are hospitalized, local rescue work headquarters said on Sunday.

The victims included 87 primary school students and four villagers in Shalan Town of Ning'an City, which was hit by a heavy flood and ensuing mountain torrent Friday afternoon.

Seven out of 18 villages in Ning'an City have been damaged by the floods. About 1,333 hectares of farm land were devastated, 55 houses collapsed and 1,800 villagers' lives were affected in the catastrophe.

The rescue team is clearing the flood-hit primary school and searching efforts have been reinforced in an expanded area along the flooding river ways.

The complicated conditions in the watercourses have hampered the rescue work, but rescuers are continuing their search for the missing, according to Zhao He, head of a team of rescue soldiers at the site.

Provincial Governor Zhang Zuoji and other high-ranking officials with the provincial government are guiding rescue work on the spot.

(Xinhua News Agency June 12, 2005)