个性创新拓展

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Recent natural disasters cost 1 326 lives

China daily （2004/10/15）

Natural disasters have claimed more than 1 300 lives and created huge economic losses this year in China.

Latest statistics from the Ministry of Civil Affairs show that 1 326 people died in natural disasters in the first nine months of this year and another 186 are missing.

More than 170 million people have been affected by the disasters including floods,droughts,landslides,typhoons and earthquakes.

The total direct economic losses across the country are estimated to exceed 90.6 billion yuan （US$10.9 billion）,statistics show.

Though large scale cross－region floods did not occur this year along major rivers,floods in certain areas caused huge losses,said Yang Yanyin,vice－minister of civil affairs.

The flooding in Southwest China’s Chongqing Municipality and Sichuan Province is believed to be the largest flood peak since 1998 after continuous torrential rains in late August and early September.

The death toll of flood victims in Southwest China exceeded 180 and left more than 60 others missing.

Most of the deaths were caused by landslides,mud－and－rock flow and flash floods sweeping through mountain valleys.

Earthquakes measuring higher than 5 on the Richter scale occurred in Southwest China’s Yunnan Province,North China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and Northwest China’s Qinghai Province.