When a swollen river flooded a colliery in central China's Hunan Province Saturday at least 14 people were killed, bringing the country's death toll in tropical storm Bilis to 170.

 

Among those dead were a miner, seven technicians working on emergency rescue operations and six workers who were trapped in collapsed houses and flooded pump rooms, said the emergency rescue headquarters at the Shenjiawan Colliery of the Hongwei Mining Co in Hengyang City of Hunan on Monday.

 

Rainstorms caused by tropical storm Bilis that arrived in China Friday swelled the upper reaches of the Leishui River in Leiyang City and destroyed the dams of a reservoir close to the colliery on Saturday.

 

Hunan is the worst hit province by Bilis with 92 people already confirmed dead and more than 100 missing. Floods and rainstorms accompanying the tropical storm also claimed 33 lives in Guangdong Province, 43 in Fujian Province and two in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

 

Fourteen of Fujian's 68 counties and cities have recorded rainfall in excess of 200 millimeters including two where rainfall was over 400 millimeters.

 

Three million people had been affected by the flooding, 19,100 houses destroyed and 519,000 people were evacuated by 6:00 PM on Sunday.

 

Rainstorms and floods destroyed 144,680 hectares of crops and forced 1,865 industrial and mining enterprises to suspend production, resulting in estimated losses of 3 billion yuan (US$375 million).

 

The Fujian provincial government has appropriated 4.3 million yuan (US$537,500) for relief aid and delivered 2,000 quilts, 6,000 boxes of instant noodles and 12,000 tents to victims.

 

In Guangdong Province where 33 people were killed by the storm and landslides, 1.32 million people have been affected and 4,744 homes destroyed.

 

Part of China's main north-south railway line, the Beijing-Guangzhou link in Guangdong was submerged and 10,000 workers have been sent to repair the damage.

 

Several trains have been cancelled and by 4:00 PM Sunday 25,000 tickets had been refunded. Railway authorities said Monday it would take two or three days to repair the line.

Water levels in many parts of the province were at historical highs. Local meteorological offices said heavy rains or rainstorms would continue in Guangdong for the next few days.

 

Guangxi disaster officials confirmed Monday that two people died when their houses collapsed in the flood. They said 1.135 million people were affected by Bilis, which has also caused 300 million yuan (US$37.5 million) worth of economic loss.

 

A total of 224 reservoirs in Guangxi were forced to discharge floodwater as levels rose dangerously high. More than 30,000 stranded people had been evacuated by Monday.

 

The storm triggered heavy rainfall and serious floods in Zhejiang, Fujian, Jiangxi, Hunan, Guangdong and Guangxi since July 14. This also caused the emergency relocation of 1.7 million residents by 9:30 PM Sunday, according to the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

 

There were no reports of casualties in Zhejiang and Jiangxi.

 

A joint working group representing the finance and?civil affairs ministries and several other departments are in the disaster zones to aid and guide relief efforts.

 

Bilis claimed the lives of at least 14 people in the Luzon region of the Philippines before arriving in China, according to local disaster officials.

 

(Xinhua News Agency July 17, 2006)