Rains batter China anew; 50,000 evacuated in flood (area vital lifeline for N Korea's world trade)

[Turborama]

Source: AP

39 minutes ago -

BEIJING — The Yalu River that marks China's border with North Korea breached a dike Saturday after torrential rains, inundating parts of the Chinese city of Dandong and forcing the evacuation of more than 50,000 people.

Flood waters punctured the dike that stood between the river and an economic development zone in a low-lying part of Dandong, a port city, state media reported. The heavy rains and flooding cut rail service out of Dandong, destroyed more than 200 houses and left at least three people missing, in addition to the 51,000 evacuated to higher ground, local officials said.

Officials with the flood control offices in Dandong and for Liaoning province said they did not know whether the city of Sinuiju on the North Korean side of the river sustained any damage. Much of North Korea's trade with the world passes through Sinuiju, forming a vital lifeline for the isolated, economically struggling country. Flooding in previous years has destroyed crops and pushed North Korea deeper into poverty, increasing its dependence on international food aid.

For China, the Dandong flooding is the latest disaster in the country's worst flood season in over a decade. Landslides caused by heavy rains have smothered communities in western China and accounted for most of the more than 2,500 people killed.

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