Rainstorms kill 48 in China
Updated on 26 June 2007
A week of heavy rainstorms along with lightning and hail have hit many parts of China, killing nearly 50 people.
Altogether 48 people have died and 12 are missing after storms swept up the Yangtze River valley and across southern China.
Nearly 10,000 people were evacuated, thousands of houses collapsed and thousands of acres of farmland were destroyed, according to a report on the central government's website (www.gov.cn).
Lightning was the main cause of death, claiming 37 of the victims. It killed five people building a tomb in Zhejiang and 12 farmers in Jiangxi were killed while they were working in their fields.
Also in Jiangxi, a grandmother and grandson were killed when they sought shelter from rain under a corrugated iron roof and two city residents in the province died from lightning strikes when they huddled together under a tree.
The months from May to September are flood season in central and southern China as torrential rains, typhoons, tropical storms and lightning hit densely populated areas.
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