The body of Wang Wen, the missing Weinan Daily photographer who fell into the water on September 9 when covering local flooding, was found on Saturday in Weinan, in Northwest China's Shaanxi Province.

With the subsiding of the flood waters, Wang's body was found by two local farmers around 2 pm on Saturday about 500 metres from where he fell into the water, according to the Weinan Flood-prevention Office.

Wang disappeared on Tuesday morning when he was accompanying local officials on a boat to observe conditions when the third flood crest was to pass the Huaxian Hydrometric Station in Weinan, the office said.

"The boat was overturned by a big wave in the Weihe River, the largest tributary of the Yellow River, and all 14 people on board, including Wang, fell into the water," the office said.

The office said all the others were recovered from the water within a hour, but Wang was never found.

In Baoji, a city in western Shaanxi, a retired worker on flood prevention patrol has been missing since September 5 and local people are still searching for him, Shaanxi Flood Prevention Headquarters said.

Shaanxi was hit by heavy rain since August 24 which caused serious flooding and landslides over the past two weeks, with Weinan in eastern Shaanxi the hardest hit area.

In Weinan Prefecture, 60 villages were inundated, with water levels starting to drop only on last Friday.

The local government has mapped out an overall plan to provide safe food and drinking water, health information for people caught in the disaster, the immunization of children and the careful disposal of excrement and urine, rubbish and corpses, according to flood prevention headquarters.

Shaanxi has suffered heavy losses of life and property with 39 people killed and some 4 billion yuan (US$481 million) of direct economic losses being recorded.

(China Daily September 15, 2003)