AID BOAT: On October 7, a boat carrying food, water and quilts distributed by the local government heads to residents stranded by floods in Wanning, Hainan Province, which has been struck by the worst flooding in decades (HOU JIANSEN)

Inundated Island

At least one fisherman died and three others went missing as the worst flooding in decades wreaked havoc in south China's island province of Hainan, local authorities said on October 7.

By late October 7, more than 210,000 people had been evacuated after about 1,160 villages were submerged by floodwaters, caused by the heaviest torrential rains in Hainan since 1961.

Additionally, 111 fishing boats were damaged and another 28 had sunk off the coast after the rains began on September 30, said Yang Yunxian, a provincial disaster control official.

Economic losses caused by the floods were estimated at about 1.13 billion yuan ($169 million), Yang said.

The armed police headquarters of Hainan said more than 1,500 soldiers and 45 rescue boats had been dispatched for rescue work.

On October 7, local authorities used explosives to blast a reservoir twice in the provincial capital Haikou to reduce rapidly rising water levels that threatened to collapse the dam.

Spill Fine

China's leading gold producer Zijin Mining Co. said on October 7 it had received punitive decisions from Fujian provincial authorities, including a fine of 9.56 million yuan ($1.43 million) for severe water pollution caused by its subsidiary copper plant.

The copper plant, whose waste water leak killed large quantities of fish in a local river in Fujian Province, was also asked to implement rectification measures and clear up pollution, said Zijin, a listed company in Hong Kong, in a statement filed to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

Receiving the decisions sent on September 30 from Fujian's provincial department of environmental protection, Zijin said it would "comply with the punishment" in a timely manner.

Two leakages of acidic copper solution at the Zijinshan Gold and Copper Mine copper plant, occurring on July 3 and July 16 respectively, resulted in material water pollution of the Tingjiang River, causing a direct economic loss of more than 31 million yuan ($4.6 million).

Inspecting Coalmines

China's work safety supervisor will soon launch a nationwide inspection campaign on coal mines to crack down on illegal mining and prevent deadly accidents.

A spokesman of the State Administration of Work Safety (SAWS) said on October 3 the campaign, which starts on October 10 and lasts until November 30, will check whether accident-prone small coal mines of outdated capacity have been shut down according to state policies.

According to the SAWS, 1,539 small coal mines with outdated standards have to be closed in China this year to meet the country's carbon dioxide emission and pollution-reduction requirements.

Football Scandal

Three former Chinese soccer officials, including former vice president of the Chinese Football Association (CFA) Xie Yalong, have been arrested for bribery, police said on October 5.

The other two were Wei Shaohui, former leader of China's national football team, and Li Dongsheng, former head of the CFA's referee commission, said sources with a special investigation group set up by the Ministry of Public Security.

Meanwhile, the sources said that investigations against three soccer referees accused of taking bribes and match fixing had concluded and the cases transferred to the prosecution. All three had confessed to the crimes they were accused of, the sources said.