Death toll from Chinese floods nears 600 mark

A BUS was swept away by fast, muddy flood waters in south China, the latest in a string of disasters across the country where 536 people have died in floods and landslides this year.

Torrential rain has pushed rivers above their bursting points and triggered mudslides in the past week, killing at least 97 people and leaving 41 missing, state media said yesterday.

As rain inundated the south, the impoverished central province of Anhui was suffering widespread drought and there was a heatwave in the capital, Beijing.