Dam breach triggers floods in central China

AFP| Beijing

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Chinese officials raced to stem floods caused by a dam breach in central China, state media reported, as the Asian nation grapples with a summer of extreme weather.

State news agency Xinhua said the breach occurred on Friday afternoon in part of an embankment on the shore of Dongting Lake in central China’s Hunan province.

No casualties were immediately reported but the 226-metre (740-foot) breach forced nearly 6,000 people to evacuate from nearby areas, according to state broadcaster CCTV.

It published footage showing lake water flowing through a yawning gap in a dyke, inundating farmland and lapping at the rooftops of village homes.

The country’s road monitoring centre said yesterday traffic controls had been imposed on all roads leading in and out of Hunan’s Huarong county -- home to around half a million people -- “due to flood prevention needs”.