Two policemen have been killed taking part in rescue efforts in disaster-hit areas.

Su Zhijie, 25, died on July 27 in Fujian when he tried to save people trapped in floods caused by Tyhoon Bilis.

Wang Jixian, a patrolman in Zhaoqing city in Guangdong, was killed on August 4 in a huge mud flow after pulling two people out of the moving muds.

China has deployed more than 50,000 policemen for rescue work in regions hit by natural disasters this summer, the police authority announced on Tuesday.

Wu Heping, spokesman for the Ministry of Public Security, said that China's police have played a very active role in disaster-relief efforts in the series of typhoons, floods, mud flows and land slides that have hit the country in the past two months.

About 40,000 police were mobilized in southern Guangdong Province, with 8,000 in central Hunan Province, another 1,500 in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region and 3,000 in the eastern Fujian Province, according to police sources.

"The police have made huge efforts and great sacrifices," Wu said.

He said police forces all over the country had been ordered to stay on alert for more potential natural disasters, and were ready to make sacrifices to maintain public order and safeguard people's lives.

According to official figures, 11 police died on duty in the first five months of the year and 164 others were wounded.

Most police killed on duty were the victims of attacks by criminal suspects, said a police source.

(Xinhua News Agency August 9, 2006)