The death toll caused by mountain torrents that hit an armed police school in east China Sunday night had risen to 50 by Tuesday afternoon, rescuers said.

Rescuers are still searching for the 36 people who remain missing.

More than 7,000 soldiers, policemen and local residents have been engaged in the rescue work over the past days and have recovered 50 bodies.

The sudden downpour brought by Typhoon Longwang hit the training base belonging to the Armed Police Command School in Fuzhou, capital of Fujian Province, Sunday night, when mountain torrents dashed against two houses of the school and washed them away and swept away some students.  

Soon after the accident occurred, General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and Chairman of the Central Military Commission Hu Jintao made a phone call, urging localities to make every possible effort in searching for the missing students.

(Xinhua News Agency October 5, 2005)