Four school pupils in Jilin
Province and three miners in Guizhou
Province were missing after floods on Thursday. Also announced
yesterday, a bus overturn in Gansu
Province killed one and injured 34 the day before, while storms
have caused huge economic losses in Xinjiang
Uygur Autonomous Region.
The four students were on their way home from
school in Xiushui Township, Yushu City at about 4 PM when they were
swept away by floods caused by rains that hit the city in recent
days. Local officials said rescuers were searching for them.
The miners were amongst 25 working underground when
Kaiping Colliery in Weng'an County was flooded in the early hours,
according to local workplace safety authorities. The mine, which
officials said was licensed and had passed safety evaluation, is
now having the water pumped out.
The road accident took place at around 6 PM on
Wednesday, when a passenger bus on National Expressway No.312 in
Wuwei City suddenly overturned, killing the driver on the spot,
said local police. The cause is under investigation, and doctors
said the injured are in a stable condition.
Heavy rainstorms and hailstones struck northern
parts of Xinjiang from Sunday to Wednesday, according to the
regional government, causing direct economic losses worth 200
million yuan (US$24 million).
The ensuing floods affected 18,774 people and
damaged 26,700 hectares of farmland in the prefectures of Ili,
Tacheng and Altay. Local authorities have organized immediate
relief work and are helping farmers restore normal production.
(Xinhua News Agency July 1, 2005)