Million Chinese battle against lake flooding

More than one million people are helping shore up dikes around a giant lake in China.

And 250,000 people have been evacuated from areas threatened by the swollen Dongting Lake in Hunan province.

The official Xinhua News Agency says some 940,000 labourers, 15,000 soldiers and 100,000 militia members are working to stop further flooding.

Authorities are struggling to protect six cities in Hunan, including the provincial capital of Changsha.

The Yangtze, which connects with Dongting Lake, has hit flood levels in several sections near the lake, the state newspaper China Daily says.

Nearly 1,000 people have been reported killed by flooding and landslides since China's summer rainy season began in June. More than 200 of those deaths were reported in Hunan.

In Guangdong, the Xijiang River has risen past danger levels at several monitoring stations but there is no immediate danger of flooding, says a provincial water official.

Rains in Guangdong and the neighboring Guangxi region have stopped, so rivers are expected to subside, says the official.