(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-02-13 16:21

BEIJING -- Disasters caused by prolonged low temperatures, icy rain and heavy snow in the southern part of China in the past month killed 107 people and left eight others missing as of Tuesday, said Civil Affairs Minister Li Xueju on Wednesday.

He added direct economic loss was estimated at 111.1 billion yuan (about $15.3 billion) while speaking at a national video conference on disaster relief.

Altogether, 21 provincial-level areas in the country have been affected. About 1.5 million people have been evacuated, and 1.93 million stranded passengers have been transported out.

The extreme weather affected nearly 24.4 million hectares of farmland and led to the collapse of about 354,000 houses.

Seven provinces -- Hunan, Guizhou, Jiangxi, Anhui, Hubei, Zhejiang and Sichuan -- and the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region were the worst hit by the severe weather.