1500 people dead or missing in natural disasters in 2012

A total of 1,530 people lost their lives or went missing in natural disasters across China last year, authorities said on Wednesday. Last year's disasters affected 290 million people and caused direct economic losses of more than 418 billion yuan (67.77 billion U.S. dollars), the Ministry of Civil Affairs announced in an annual report on social services. The ministry said natural disasters forced the relocation of 11 million people and damaged 25 million hectares of crops, the report said. The ministries of civil affairs and finance allocated more than 11 billion yuan for disaster relief last year.