China floods kill 93, half a million evacuated

BEIJING, June 10 (Reuters) Flooding from two weeks of heavy rain in southern China has killed 93 people, a further 11 are missing and more than half a million people have been evacuated to higher ground, the official China Daily said today.

''Nearly 12 million people in nine provinces, regions and municipalities have been affected by the weather,'' the newspaper quoted the Ministry of Civil Affairs as saying.

At least 560,000 people have been evacuated and direct losses from the heavy rains have reached 7.66 billion yuan (956 million dollars), said the ministry.

Mudslides remained a danger, the daily said.

Fujian Province, the hardest-hit area, was given 40 million yuan by the central government for relief work, it said.

REUTERS KD KP0950