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Death toll rises to 39 in Sichuan flooding, rock slides

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-07-30 20:33

CHENGDU: The death toll from floods and mud and rock slides in two counties of southwest China's Sichuan Province rose to 39 Thursday after more bodies were retrieved, local authorities said.

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Twenty-four were confirmed dead and four missing after downpours triggered havoc Monday in Miyi County, Panzhihua City, said the city government. Another 44 were injured.

Torrential rains affected more than 104,000 people in 12 townships of the county.

The government has accommodated homeless people in temporary sites and will award 5,000 yuan (US$732) compensation to families of the dead.

In Kangding County, 15 people died and 39 missing after heavy rains caused major slips last Thursday. Rescuers said 136 temporary sheds housing workers from a hydropower station project were buried by 500,000 cubic meters of mud and rocks.

Another seven bodies have been retrieved in Luding and Shimian Counties, As the two places were far away from the mud slide, it was not confirmed yet if they were also victims of the slip, said Xiang Luo, chief of the Communist Party of China Kangding County Committee.