At least 40 children were killed on Friday when a flash flood struck a primary school in north-eastern China, hospital sources said.
“There are at least 40 children who were sent to hospital to be saved and who did not survive,” said a doctor surnamed Liu at the Shalan town hospital in Heilongjiang province.
Another doctor reached by telephone at Shalan police station confirmed the death toll, while a local bank worker said there were “at least 50 or 60 dead”.
The official Xinhua news agency said at least 20 children were missing after a torrent of water hit the school at about 4pm local time. It added that the exact number of victims was unavailable due to communication problems.
Shalan town lies in a valley in Ningan municipality, about 450km from the provincial capital, Harbin.
The doctor named Liu said the school had about 300 pupils in total. — AFP