China school flood claims 91 lives

June 12, 2005

At least 91 people have now been confirmed dead in Friday's disaster, in which a wall of water and debris smashed into the school near Ning'an, in the northern Heilongjiang province. Hundreds of children and more than 30 teachers of the school, were inside at the time.

Of the dead, reports from the Xinhua news agency say that 87 were students and four were adults. The reports also indicate that two dozen people are still in a criticial condition in hospital.

The flooding itself, triggered by heavy rain caused damage in several cities near Ning'an city, knocking down up to 55 houses.