Flooding in China's Inner Mongolia region kills at least 22

[News_Editor]

Flooding in China's Inner Mongolia region kills at least 22

2011-08-01 22:19:43 GMT+7 (ICT)

PESHAWAR, MONGOLIA (BNO NEWS) -- Heavy rainfall and flooding in northern China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in recent weeks has left at least 22 people killed and nearly 2 million others affected, the Chinese government said on Monday.

Heavy rainfall led to severe flooding in parts of Inner Mongolia in the last few weeks, forcing the evacuation of more than 50,000 people. Approximately 1.96 million people have been affected by the severe weather, according to a spokesperson for China's Ministry of Civil Affairs.

The Ministry said the weather collapsed at least 10,700 houses throughout the region and damaged 60,600 others, while 618,500 hectares of farmland has been affected. "The direct economic loss is more than 4.45 billion yuan ($691 million)," the spokesperson said, adding that at least 22 people had been killed.

In response to the widespread damage, China's National Disaster Reduction Committee on Monday dispatched a team of experts to the region to assess the situation and coordinate relief efforts which are already in progress.

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