Chinese flood kills 87 children

The death toll seems bound to rise further

The death toll of a flash flood which engulfed a school in north-east China has risen to 91, the state media says.

Eighty-seven of the victims were children at the school in Shalan, a town in Heilongjiang province, while the others were local villagers.

Twenty-five more people are said to be in hospital, Xinhua news agency said.

Some 350 children aged 6-14 and 31 teachers were in the school when the floods caused by heavy rain hit the building on Friday.

"Some teachers were saying that at the time of the drownings, the water was several meters high, so the youngest children would not have much of a chance," a mother told AFP news agency.

The school was built in the lowest point in the village Former Chinese official

"My mother is 60 years old and has lived here all her life. In all her years she has never seen anything like this," the mother, named Zhao, said.

"From the time it started to rain, until the time the flash flood came lasted only about 30 minutes."

A former local leader in Ningan County told Xinhua the school was built in the lowest point in Shalan village which used to be known as "Shalan ditch".

Forklifts are reportedly removing mud and debris while 12 policemen are still searching for more bodies.

Hotel fire

In a separate incident, a fire swept through the top floors of a hotel in Shantou, a city in China's southern Guangdong province, killing 29 people and injuring 15 more.

The flood in Shalan is the latest in a series of disasters in China caused by heavy rains in recent weeks.

At least 250 people are known to have died in May, the usual start of the rainy season.