8 killed in floods after typhoon hits China

Eight people were killed and over 1,000 students were trapped in floods after rainstorms in several areas in China triggered by typhoon Haiyan.

Two people have died and four remain missing after a boat capsized in a reservoir in central China’s Hunan Province early on Tuesday.

The boat with ten people aboard capsized in Sanlixi Reservoir in Taoyuan County.

Four people were rescued and four remained missing. The boat overturned during sudden strong gales, according to an initial investigation.

In another incident, rescuers continued searching for four people who went missing after their pedicab fell into a flooded river on Monday during heavy downpours triggered by Typhoon Haiyan in south China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

The four were among six people aboard the pedicab. The vehicle veered off a flooded road in Hengxian County and fell into the Daliao River. Two of the passengers managed to reach the bank.

Haiyan has been lashing Guangxi since Sunday, bringing heavy downpours and tidal waves that have led to at least six deaths in the region, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

Also more than 1,000 students and teaching staff of a middle school in southwest China were trapped in floods after rainstorms triggered by the typhoon swept the area, rescuers said today.

Torrents inundated the No. 1 Middle School of Sanli Township in Guigang City, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region at 7:03 a.m. today, with floodwaters 1.5 metres deep.

All of those trapped in the school buildings have been moved to the second floor or higher, and rescue operations are underway.

Downpours lashed Guangxi as Haiyan reached the region on Monday morning. The heavy rains have left one dead and affected nearly a million people in Guangxi. Some 25,000 people were displaced and 249 houses collapsed, Xinhua reported.