Life of Guangzhou - 8,800 Stranded Passengers Leave BJ-GZ Railway Safely

Blocked railway.

4 pm. 17, July, good news was sent from the Lechang section of Guangdong province, Beijing-Guangzhou railway line: more than 8,800 passengers had been evacuated after being stranded along the flooded railway line for about 40 hours. At the same time, north of Meicun, shaoguan, the northern line of the Beijing-Guangzhou railway had been repaired. However, the southern line is still under reconstruction and it is difficult to predict when the process will be completed.

Since 14 July, the north and east of Guangdong province and the Pearl River Delta have been affected by the severe tropical storm 'Bilis' and related torrential rain. Yesterday morning, Zhang Dejiang, a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC and Secretary of Guangdong Provincial Committee of the CPC, as well as Huang Huahua, the Vice Secretary of Guangdong Provincial Committee and Governor of Guangdong, went to the Control Center and researched the task of flood prevention and control. Zhang Dejiang emphasized the importance of control and rescue work.

According to the statistics of the Provincial Flood Control Center, the death toll had reached 44 and a cost of 6 billion Yuan by the end of yesterday.

A work group sent by the Central Government arrived in Guangdong yesterday and headed for the most severedly affected areas including Shaoguan and Chaozhou for flood control work. More than 1000 passengers and drivers are still stranded in the Hunan section of the Beijing- Zhuhai highway.

(Translated by Wu Nuo, proofread by Mr. Alan Devey, www.lifeofguangzhou.com)