HANKOW BEING ENGULFED BY SLOW DEATH

Stratford Evening Post, Volume I, Issue 215, 20 August 1931, Page 5

HANKOW BEING ENGULFED BY SLOW DEATH

FLOOD DAMAGE BEYOND COMPUTATION \ Looting, Disease, and Stench of Dead Bodies WORST DISASTER IN CHLNA'S HISTORY -i- Press Association.—CopyrightReed. 8.40 a.ml SHANGHAI, Wednesday. A SLOW death 13 engulfing the entire Hankow district, the flood waters continuing to create new high level records. It is estimated that 30,000,000 inhabitants are affected; and the damage is beyond computation.

The. remaining' dykes are crumbling rapidly and the most solid buildings are collapsing. A lack of drinkinjr water- and flood is causing a spread of disease, and the absence of lighl - ing at ,night is creating a situation I unparalleled in China's disasters. while the stench of dead human beings and animals adds to the horror. :,A British naval dispatch reports the possibility of, gunboats negotiat-

ing the streets in the event of it being necessary to prevent looting of British property. A Chinese hotel of five storeys, containing 100 refugees, collapsed, and sagging high tension wires are heightening the dangers. Almost the entire autumn crops in the Yangtse Valley are ruined and an unprecedented famine lies ahead.