Heilong river dike bursts, residents evacuated

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A dike on a section of the Heilong River burst due to high water levels early Thursday in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, local government said.

The breach, which occurred at 1:40 a.m. Thursday in Chaibaotun, Luobei County, was about 20 meters wide. More than 7,000 residents who lived near the section were evacuated on Monday.

More than 70 rescue workers were also evacuated by boat after the breach, which has so far caused no casualties.

Prior to the breach, the river's water level hit 99.76 meters at Chaibaotun, 19 cm higher than the previous record level at that section.

The Heilong River has swollen over the past week, with some sections seeing the largest floods in history. Some 1,340 locations on 29 stretches of embankment along the river have reported danger so far.

Flooding also occurred on other major rivers in Heilongjiang, including the Songhua River and Nenjiang River.

More than 70,000 people have been mobilized to monitor and protect embankments in Heilongjiang. The flooding has displaced over 200,000 people in the province.

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