CHINA> Regional
![]() |
15 hikers killed in Chongqing's flash flood
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-07-13 10:57 Update: As of 11:30 a.m. Monday, rescuers had saved 16 hikers, retrieved 15 bodies and were continuing to search for the missing, the Chongqing municipal government said in a press release. CHONGQING: Seven more bodies were retrieved Sunday from a flooded crude gorge in Chongqing Municipality, bringing the death toll from a rain-related hiking accident to 14, the rescue headquarters said. Rescuers found the bodies in the afternoon at a pond of the lower reaches of a flood-formed river in the Tanzhangxia Canyon scenic spot, Wanzhou District. Sixteen of the 35-member expedition were rescued. Five of them were hospitalized for minor injuries and the rest are in a hotel.
More than 1,900 police officers, soldiers, medical staff and local residents were searching for the five missing tourists in the area.
However, a downpour quickly triggered mountain torrents and flushed away most of the tourists at about 3 pm. "I heard a roaring sound while walking at the bottom of the gorge. Suddenly the flood, up to several meters' high, crushed upon us and swept us several kilometers away," said Deng Ke, one of the survivors.
The expedition, comprising 18 women and 17 men, was set up via a Chongqing-based travel Web site and they did not notify the administration of their plans to visit the scenic spot or get approval from the local tourism authorities, said Pu Binbin, secretary-general of the Wanzhou District Committee of the Communist Party of China. Many of the hikers had bought insurance for 100,000 yuan (14,600 US dollars). |
主站蜘蛛池模板: 西乌| 徐汇区| 防城港市| 荣成市| 保定市| 灵川县| 泉州市| 鄂尔多斯市| 武城县| 和政县| 隆尧县| 湖北省| 邛崃市| 和田市| 新蔡县| 皋兰县| 噶尔县| 从江县| 塔城市| 红桥区| 岳普湖县| 安泽县| 白山市| 南陵县| 长葛市| 始兴县| 察隅县| 皮山县| 六盘水市| 临夏市| 邯郸县| 广灵县| 宁津县| 永修县| 通化县| 都兰县| 纳雍县| 平南县| 乐昌市| 娱乐| 彭水|