FAMINE FEAR GROWS

Star (Christchurch), Volume XLIV, Issue 197, 20 August 1931, Page 1

FAMINE FEAR GROWS

Hankow in Awful Plight Through Floods. UNPARALLELED DISASTER. United Press Assn.—By Electric Telegraph—Copyright. (Received August 20, 8.40 a.m.) SHANGHAI, August 20. Slow death is engulfing the entire Hankow district. The water of the Yang-tse River is continuing to create new high level records and it is estimated that 30,000,000 inhabitants are affected. The damage is beyond computation. The remaining dykes are crumbling rapidly and most of the solid buildings are collapsing. The lack of drinking water and food is spreading disease and the absence of lighting at night is creating a situation that is unparalleled in China’s disasters. The stench from dead human beings and animals is adding to the horror. ' A British naval dispatch reports the possibility of gunboats negotiating the streets in the event of its being necessary to prevent looting of British property. A five-storey Chinese hotel containing hundreds of refugees collapsed and is sagging across the high tension wires, heightening the dangers. Almost the entire autumn crops in the Yang-tse Valley are ruined and an unprecedented famine is ahead.