Updated on
Summary
Floods triggered by heavy rainfall in southern China have killed at least 69, left 44 missing and forced the evacuation of around 500,000 people. Torrential rainfall has caused rivers to swell across the southeastern provinces of Jiangxi and Fujian, flooding both cities and rural villages. In Fujian, 1,200 students were trapped when floodwater cut off the only road leading to their school, CCTV showed. A group of paramilitary police were dispatched to Jianxi (pron: jien-see) school to rescue the children, but persisting rain late into the evening forced them to abandon the rescue operation until morning. Also in Nanping, 74 children in a nursery were temporarily sheltered in a movie theatre and later driven by bus back to the kindergarten, CCTV showed. A landslide in a rural area of the city also trapped two people when rocks and mud fell down on top of a building. Both were saved after rescue workers dug through the rubble with shovels and their hands to reach them, CCTV showed.
