Eleven people are dead, one is missing and nine have been
injured in violent rainstorms in two Chinese provinces.
Southwest China's Sichuan Province reported seven deaths and
nine injuries on Friday in Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture after
continuous rainfall on Wednesday and Thursday brought hailstorms,
lightning strikes and landslides, said a spokesman of the
provincial disaster relief office.
On Wednesday morning, heavy rain hit Dahuadi village of Ningnan
county and induced a mud-slide, which left five villagers dead, two
others seriously injured and seven houses destroyed. Crops on about
6.7 hectares of farmland were destroyed.
In the prefecture capital of Xichang city, famed for its?satellite launching center, a lightning strike
killed two people and injured seven others on Thursday in Masang
village. About 8,600 people in 18 towns were affected and 20 houses
collapsed.
The injured have been hospitalized and relief operations are
continuing.
Rainstorms also hit central Hunan Province from Wednesday night through
Thursday, leaving three people dead, one missing and 158,000
homeless, reported the Ministry of Civil Affairs on Friday.
The rainstorms resulted in the collapse of 3,807 houses,
destroyed 57,000 hectares of crops and caused direct economic
losses topping 580 million yuan (US$75 million). About 75,000
people now have no access to drinking water.
A ministry spokesman said an emergency rescue group had been
sent to the disaster-hit area as the situation was worsening.
In Kazak Autonomous Prefecture of Ili, northwestern Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, hailstorms,
rainstorms and floods slammed into six towns on Thursday, washing
away one farmer while he was herding his flock near a canal.
In Suxian county, rainstorms have destroyed more than 60 houses,
affected about 6,600 hectares of farmland and 800 hectares of
grassland, causing 7 million yuan (US$900,000) of economic
losses.
(Xinhua News Agency June 9, 2007)
