Heavy snow leaves 21 dead in north, central China

• Source: Xinhua
• [23:27 November 13 2009]
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A work shed damaged by heavy snow is seen in Zhengzhou, capital of central China's Henan Province, Nov. 12, 2009. Six people were killed and 34 others got hurt or sick during the recent heavy snowfall in Henan, according to the provincial government.

Heavy snow has left 21 people dead in north and central China since Monday, the Ministry of Civil Affairs announced (MCA) Friday.

The ministry did not detail the causes of the deaths, but four children had been reported dead when two school canteens collapsed after heavy snow in Hebei and Henan provinces since Wednesday.

As of 5 pm Friday, more than 9,000 buildings collapsed and about 190,400 hectares of crops were affected, causing direct economic losses of around 4.5 billion yuan (about 659 million US dollars), the ministry said.

Over 7.5 million people were affected by the snow, and close to159,000 people had been evacuated from their homes and their stranded vehicles jammed on the roads, it said.

Civil Affairs Minister Li Xueju has ordered local authorities to provide food, water and clothing to those still stranded, and to make proper arrangements for people who lost their homes in the snow to get through the winter.

In addition, the MCA and the Ministry of Finance have allocated 20 million yuan (about 2.9 million US dollars) from the central budget to Shanxi and Hebei provinces to help reallocate those affected by the snow and help them build new homes.