(Vatican Radio) As aid agencies try to help North Koreans displaced by flooding, neighbouring
China is continuing to suffer from an unusually severe heatwave. In Shanghai alone,
at least 10 people are reported to have died.
Listen to Vatican Radio's regional
correspondent Alastair Wanklyn's report...
The deaths
are mostly attributed to heatstroke, as temperatures rose last month to at least 40
degrees in more than three dozen areas, China's state news agency said.
The
city of Shanghai is having its hottest summer in 140 years. Residents there heave
been leaping into fountains to cool off.
In Sichuan province, state television
reported 12,000 people had crammed into an indoor swimming pool.
Authorities
are urging people to stay indoors if they can, as they believe the heatwave will continue
for at least another week.
And there is a warning out over a tropical storm
approaching China's southern coast and which could hit late on Friday. Authorities
have urged fishing boats to keep out of its way.
Meanwhile, after weeks of
flooding in North Korea, local reports say about 45,000 people have fled their homes.
The Red Cross is trying to help.
"Many have had their existing dwelling totally
destroyed, and their belongings are gone in the flood. So there's a need to help those
families." says Marianna Steinberg of the Red Cross in Pyongyang.
The group
has sent tankers of drinking water and is taking 500 tonnes of corn to the worst-hit
region.