Ten more people were confirmed dead today from rainstorms and flooding triggered by tropical storm Bilis in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, bringing the total death toll in China to 198.

 

Guangxi's death toll rose to 19 from nine on Monday, and eight people are still missing, according to local officials on Tuesday.

 

Some 4.495 million people have been affected and economic losses are an estimated 890 million yuan (US$111.25 million), the officials said.

 

A total of 557 reservoirs in Guangxi were forced to discharge floodwater as torrential rains continued.

 

Meanwhile in Hunan Province, the worst hit province, 92 people have been confirmed dead and more than 100 are missing.

 

Bilis lashed China Friday. It has also claimed 43 lives in Fujian and 44 in Guangdong.

 

Traffic on the flood-ravaged trunk railway linking Beijing and Guangzhou was resumed by midday on Tuesday after the efforts of more than 5,000 workers over the last three days, the Guangzhou Railway Group said.

 

By 5:30 AM railway workers had repaired most of the damaged sections along the railway and Tuesday morning's trial run of a locomotive from Lechang to Shaoguan, two of most damaged points on the railway, proved successful.

 

Floods and rainstorms had disrupted part of the north-to-south artery and thousands of passengers were stranded along the route.

 

Bilis has triggered heavy rainfall and serious floods in Zhejiang, Fujian, Jiangxi, Hunan, Guangdong and Guangxi since July 14. More than 1.7 million residents had been evacuated by 9:30 PM Sunday, according to the Ministry of Civil Affairs on Monday.

 

There were no reports of casualties in Zhejiang and Jiangxi.

 

 

 

Vice Premier Hui Liangyu urged authorities and governments in disaster-hit areas to take effective relief measures.

 

The Ministry of Finance has approved 65 million yuan (US$8.125 million) to fund disaster relief efforts in Hunan, Guangdong, Fujian and Jiangxi provinces.

 

The Ministry of Civil Affairs has successively activated grades 3 and 4 of the emergency response mechanism and has begun providing relief to the disaster areas.

 

In line with the operation requirements of the mechanism, two vice ministers of civil affairs, Li Liguo and Dou Yupei, are leading joint work groups representing the Ministry of Civil Affairs, Ministry of Finance and several other departments to Hunan and Fujian respectively to aid and guide relief efforts.

 

Bilis claimed at least 14 lives in Luzon in the Philippines before landing in China, according to Filipino disaster officials.

 

 

 

 

 

(Xinhua News Agency July 18, 2006)