Beijing, July 10: With the worst floods since 1991 hitting central and eastern China, the government has dispatched 3,000 troops to assist local governments in fighting floods even as rainstorms continue to batter Hunan province, trapping 1,650 railway workers and their families. The soldiers left their barracks yesterday evening and are expected to arrive today at their designated positions stationed in the cities of Huainan, Bangbu and Chuzhou, all in Anhui province, which has been hard hit by heavy rain.

The troops bring the total number of soldiers fighting floods in the Huaihe river valley, including Anhui, to 8,000, all from the Nanjing military command. A total of 1,650 railway workers and their families were trapped by floodwater yesterday in the western part of Hunan province while sections of a railway line were damaged by landslides, local railway officials said.

The workers and their families were trapped when four living quarters owned by Huaihua Railway Group Co. Were flooded with water up to five meters deep due to continuous rainstorms during the past two days, said the officials.

Torrential rains in the mountains have triggered 24 landslides along a railway line in the Zhangjiajie area in the western part of the province, disrupting transportation. The railway bed on the Jiaozuo-Liuzhou railway line has been washed away in some sections, while several hundred meters of railway lines have been buried by landslides in several locations.

Bureau Report