100 feared dead as floods engulf Chinese farmland

Floods have engulfed large areas of farmland in southern China, leaving at least 100 people missing, feared dead, and tens of thousands homeless.

Three days of torrential rain in Hunan, Sichuan and Guizhou provinces have transformed much of the countryside into muddy lakes, and razed mountain villages to the ground. More than 36,000 homes have been destroyed - killing at least 88 people.

"It looks like people's houses were just swept away by a broom," Zhou Deqing, the manager of a mine in the town of Taizhimiao, said.

Another resident said the toll of dead and missing had already reached more than 200 earlier in the week - and that was before more downpours yesterday.

"Houses along the river banks have been totally destroyed. Even the foundations of some homes have been washed away in the flood and trees near to the river have been uprooted," Mr Zhou said.

In the worst-hit area of Xinshao, villagers raked through the wreckage on their hands and knees for any possessions that had survived the flooding. Wooden huts lay flattened around them in deep pools of muddy water.

"It is all debris now, there is nothing more tragic than this scene," Mr Zhou said.