China rainstorms affect millions

GUIYANG/CHONGQING - Millions of people have been affected as days of heavy rain in southwest and central China have caused floods and landslides while also halting train services.

The downpours have killed 10 people and left 10 missing as of Friday in southwest China's Guizhou Province, Guizhou's provincial department of civil affairs told Xinhua.

In the latest case, six people were killed and two injured in a rain-triggered landslide in Guizhou, local authorities said on Friday.

The landslide happened at around 4 a.m. on Thursday in Dakuo Village of Zhijin County in the city of Bijie, burying eight people, said a spokesman with the county.

By 10 a.m. on Thursday, the injured had been rescued. The bodies of the other six were later retrieved.

More than 2.45 million people in Guizhou have been affected by rain-triggered floods and landslides, with 122,400 of them evacuated. The storms damaged 105,700 hectares of crops and destroyed 3,008 homes, resulting in direct economic losses of 1.46 billion yuan ($234.9 million).

Strong downpours are likely to continue in the province as Typhoon Rammasun is expected to make landfall in south China's island province of Hainan or the coastal area of Guangdong Province on Friday afternoon, according to the local flood prevention department.

Elsewhere, rainstorms have halted train services in Huaihua City in central China's Hunan Province, stranding some 1,000 passengers for up to 20 hours. Local police have dispatched emergency buses to transport them to their destinations.