Disasters & Accidents

Death toll from central China floods rises to 56

Beijing, Jul 24 (EFE).- The death toll from severe floods caused by heavy rain that hit the central Chinese province of Henan increased to 56, while five people are still unaccounted for, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported on Saturday.

A previous tally announced on Friday estimated the fatalities at 51 people, all of them in Zhengzhou, the capital of the province.

Rescue operations in the city are still underway in a road tunnel that was flooded by downpours with many vehicles trapped since Tuesday, according to Xinhua.

“The number of victims is yet to be confirmed,” they reported.

Over 7.5 million people have been affected by the floods, including 920,000 people who have been evacuated to safe places.

Some 576,000 hectares of crop fields have been damaged, while over 3,800 buildings have collapsed across the province.

In Zhengzhou, the telecommunication network has been restored, while emergency services continue to search for survivors, but also to repair the damaged infrastructure.

While Zhengzhou continues its slow return to normal after Tuesday’s shocking scenes, the storm has persisted in other areas of the province, with northern Henan heavily affected over the past few hours. EFE

jt/ta/lv

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