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)
