Environmental disaster as China floods kill 53

Heavy rains in south-west China over the last week have killed 53 people, it has been reported.

Landslides and flooding in the Guangxi region from rains that fell between May 31st and June 2nd have destroyed over 11,000 homes and killed three children under the age of 11, according to the state-run Xinhua news agency.

The environmental disaster has also destroyed 15 reservoirs and 4,000 irrigation networks, forcing 200,000 people to evacuate their homes.

In some of the 42 counties hit by the torrential storms, rescue work was still going ahead to find missing people, the regional flood and control drought relief office confirmed.

The regional civil affairs bureau stated that as well as loss of life, the environmental damage caused by the flooding included the destruction of 182,460 hectares of crops in Guangxi.

News of this disaster comes less than two months after an earthquake measuring between 6.9 and 7.1 hit the Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Yushu in Qing Hai Province in China.

According to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the tremor on April 14th killed over 2,000 people.

Posted by Claire Manning.