Fifty-nine students were missing in the mountain torrents that occurred at a school of armed police on Sunday night.

The accident took place at a training base of the Fuzhou Command School of Armed Police in east China's Fujian Province, when heavy rain brought by Typhoon Longwang suddenly poured down. Two houses of the school were damaged by mountain torrents and some students were swept away.

Rescuers from the armed police, the People's Liberation Army (PLA), public security departments and the local government and citizens in the province have been searching for the missing. By 6 PM Monday, 59 students were still missing.

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 3, 2005)