Floods in China Kill 437; Troops Aid in Rescues
Soldiers in inflatable boats floated across inundated fields Wednesday to rescue people from flooding that has killed at least 437 people in southern China.
In Hunan province, overwhelmed by two weeks of heavy rain, officials said 387 people had died and 160,000 homes were destroyed. Crops have been destroyed on 328,000 acres of farmland.
The rains stopped Wednesday, but overflowing rivers may not have crested yet, the newspaper China Daily reported.
National television showed brown water rushing across fields like rapids and boats passing a village where water nearly reached roof lines.
Soldiers in hip-deep water guided inflatable rafts full of children and adults to safety through swift floodwaters and carried elderly people on their backs.
Hunan officials said 3 million people were stranded by the floods. A state of emergency has been declared in the province.
In Jiangxi, east of Hunan, 50 people have died in floods, the Shanghai newspaper Wen Hui Bao said.
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