China floods prompt plea for military help
Torrential floods in south-west China have claimed at least 76 lives, prompting beleaguered local officials to seek help today from the military in rescuing hundreds trapped by mudslides and caved-in roads, state media reported.
Days of heavy rain in Sichuan province and the municipality of Chongqing have swamped entire villages and ruined huge swathes of farmland, the official Xinhua News Agency said.
The downpours, which began Thursday, were forecast to last through Tuesday, the agency said.
Local governments were appealing for help from the nation’s air force in reaching people isolated by the rising waters, Xinhua said.
In the hard-hit city of Dazhou, floods caused roads to cave in and destroyed highways, cutting off the city’s downtown, it said.
In Sichuan, 55 people were killed, it said. Neighbouring Chongqing reported 21 dead, the Tianfu Morning Post said in its online edition.
Most of the dead were killed when mudslides buried their homes, the newspaper said. The county of Yunyang alone suffered 23 landslides, which buried more than 350 homes and killed seven people, it said.
Elsewhere, “the village of Ji’an has vanished overnight,” the report said. All 1,200 village residents were evacuated, it added.
Serious flooding plagues central and southern China every year. The latest fatalities bring the number of deaths reported in this year’s summer rains to more than 500.
Rainfall in Chongqing has reached 13 inches, the highest in 200 years, Monday’s reports said.
The area is about 700 miles south-west of Beijing.
