Taiwanese charity distributes relief items in rain-hit Beijing

The Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation, a Taiwanese charity, distributed relief materials on Monday in southwest Beijing after rain-generated natural disasters hit the city nine days ago.

Some 5,800 blankets, 5,000 boxes of instant noodles and another 5,000 boxes of packaged drinking water, among other items, will be distributed in batches to a total of 5,000 households in the townships of Zhangfang, Qinglonghu and Zhoukoudian in the Fangshan District, the foundation said Monday.

The foundation arranged for the relief materials to be sent following field research conducted by its volunteers to verify what goods were needed most by local residents.

More than 70 people died after heavy downpours lashed Beijing on July 21, causing landslides in remote areas and flooding downtown streets. Fangshan was hit the worst.