Beijing - The Red Cross yesterday warned disease could be the next disaster to strike millions of Chinese driven out of their homes by floods, which state media said had claimed at least 2,500 lives this year.
The death toll reported by the Xinhua news agency more than doubled the previous figure, issued last Friday, and was announced as the largest flood peak on the Yangtze River since 1954 threatened to burst straining dykes on its lower reaches.
