pschica
LIF Toddler
Member since 5/05 424 total posts
Name:
D
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now they are saying 62 kids died in China in a flood friday...
how sad - 62 kids and 2 adults
BEIJING, China (Reuters) -- The death toll from a Friday flash flood that smashed into a primary school in mountainous northeast China has jumped to 64, including 62 children, Xinhua news agency said.
The deadly flood and ensuing landslide swept through the town of Shalan near Ning'an city in Heilongjiang province.
Most of the town was still under one meter (3 feet) of water, an employee at the hospital where the injured were taken said on Saturday. All of the injured children were in stable condition, she told Reuters by telephone.
The agency, in an earlier report on Saturday, said 38 people died in the disaster, the majority of them students. Xinhua did not explain the rapid rise in the death toll.
Chinese newspapers carried photographs showing the primary school half-buried by mud and water. Television footage showed brick buildings with walls washed away and fields ravaged by floods.
Initial official media reports had put the toll at 29 killed and four missing in the flood, which reached up to two meters deep as it swept through the school and surrounding area.
"Because the torrent was so fierce and strong, 23 first- and second-grade students were drowned and washed away," the Beijing News said.
More than 350 children aged 6 to 14 as well as 31 teachers were at the school when the flood hit, Xinhua said.
Telecommunication links were cut with Shalan, about 450 km (275 miles) from the provincial capital, Harbin, making it impossible to reach local leaders or determine exactly how many people had been affected by the flood.
State television said provincial leaders had rushed to the site to direct rescue operations.
China suffers widespread flooding and drought every year, causing huge loss of life.
Earlier this week, days of heavy rains and floods in southern China killed more than 200 and destroyed nearly 138,000 homes.
And more flooding was likely with heavy rains predicted for northern and southern China in coming days and several rivers "on the brink of bursting their banks", Xinhua said.
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