China Dragon Boat festival turns to disaster

BEIJING (Reuters) - Nine Chinese villagers died and two were missing after they fell into a river in east China while watching a traditional Dragon Boat race from a rain-soaked embankment, state media said on Tuesday.

The Dragon Boat Festival, traditionally celebrated in Taiwan and Hong Kong, falls on the fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese lunar calendar and this year was the first time it was a public holiday in mainland China.

The 11 villagers were in a crowd on the bank of a river in Wuni in Jiangxi province when the accident occurred on Sunday, the China Daily said.

Witnesses said the river bank had become muddy and slippery after heavy rain which has hit a vast swathe of southern China.

More gales and thunderstorms were forecast for many parts of south China after the heaviest rainstorms in 50 years drenched parts of Guangdong province.

Torrential rain has also brought havoc to Hong Kong, where television showed pictures of pedestrians walking through knee-high water, roads were blocked and schools and hospitals forced to close.