Two natural disasters and one road accident have claimed 12 lives and left many injured and missing in central China's Henan Province and the island province of Taiwan over the past few days.
A coalmine landslide in Henan Sunday killed one and left more than 100 injured, with an unknown number trapped, according to Xinhua News Agency today.
The landslide occurred at 7:40 PM in Pingdingshan Coal Co. Ltd's No.4 Coal Mine, north of Pingdingshan City. By 9 AM on Monday, 18 houses had been damaged and 123 injured people hospitalized.
A second landslide at 1:06 AM injured several rescuers and further hampered rescue operations, which are now underway again. The cause of the accident is under investigation.
Also in Henan yesterday, seven people were killed and three injured when a car rammed into a motor-propelled tricycle, local police said.
The accident took place at 2:00 PM in Minquan County in the eastern part of the province. Six were killed on the spot, and another died while being rushed to a local hospital.
Four people also died and four others remain unaccounted for after torrential rains in parts of Taiwan on May 12, according to Hong Kong media reports on Sunday.
Two of the deceased were in the northern county of Miaoli, another was a 60-year-old man in Hsinchu City in the north and the fourth a 64-year-old man in Taitung County in the east.
Three of the missing are employees of a company in Nantou County's Jenai Village, who were on a mountain-climbing excursion when the rains caused landslides in the area.
Six other employees were injured and the county's fire department has sent 43 rescuers to search for the missing trio.
The other missing person is a construction worker in Hsinchu County's Hengshan Village who was washed away by floodwater while working under a bridge. Rescuers continue to search for 33-year-old Huang Jen-chi.
The heavy rainfall also caused considerable damage to highways, bridges and farms around the island, according to reports.
(China.org.cn, Xinhua News Agency May 16, 2005)
