Flash flood kills 12

TWELVE people have been confirmed dead and another one remains missing after a downpour-triggered flash flood hit a scenic area in Central China’s Hubei Province, local authorities said yesterday.

The accident happened around 6:40 p.m. Sunday in Duobi Gorge, Hefeng County. So far, 61 people have been rescued, according to the rescue headquarters.

The identities of the victims have been preliminarily confirmed as tourists from outside the region. Rescue work is still under way.

Tourism spending

CHINESE tourists made 149 million overseas trips in 2018, with total spending amounting to US$130 billion , according to a report released by the China Tourism Academy.

The data marked a year-on-year increase of 14.7 percent and 13 percent, respectively.

According to the United Nations World Tourism Organization, the number of global travelers will exceed 1.8 billion by 2030. China is considered the world’s fastest growing tourism market and will play a key role in the sector’s development.

Tomb raiders caught

THE police have nabbed 29 suspected tomb raiders, and retrieved a passel of valuable cultural relics in East China’s Anhui Province.

Police in the city of Huainan discovered a clue in 2018, and later rounded up the tomb-robbing suspects that had ransacked an ancient grave dating back to the Warring States period (475 -221 B.C.) three times.

Among the 75 retrieved artifacts, 26 were classified as national grade-one cultural relics, according to Li Anlin, deputy mayor of Huainan and head of the city’s public security bureau.

Around 40 kg of explosives, 15 detonators and some tomb-robbing tools were seized, according to Huang Shengzhong with the local public security bureau.