Over 100 students, teachers trapped in floods in China

Over 100 students and teachers have been trapped in a school in northwest China after flood triggered by rainstorm washed away the only bridge linking the building to the outside world.
Over 100 students and teachers at the Maiji Junior Middle School in Gansu Province are currently trapped in their school due to flood, official media here reported today.
They are safe and have enough food for two to three days, state-run Xinhua news agency said.
The students and teachers remained trapped after the school, located in a mountainous area, was isolated by a rainstorm-triggered flood that washed away the only bridge linking the school to the outside world, the provincial education department said.

The flood waters have started to retreat and will not threaten the safety of the trapped people, but the school's gate and some of its walls were destroyed in the storm battering the city since yesterday, the report said.
The boarding school has dormitories and cafeterias, Chen Baolin, deputy director of the education bureau of the city's Maiji District said.

The school's cafeteria can supply the trapped students and teachers with enough food for two to three days, Chen added.
Another 28 schools in the city were affected by the rain.
The Lanzhou Central Meteorological Station issued a red alert for continuous rain in Gansu today, adding that there is a high risk of rainstorm-triggered floods and geological disasters.

China has a four-tier colour-coded weather warning system, with red alerts issued for the most serious weather conditions, followed by orange, yellow and blue.