8 missing after landslide hits houses in central China

HUNAN (AA): At least eight people are missing after a landslide hit a village in Hunan, central China on Sunday, state-run media said.

The landslide hit four houses in the village of Douxi in the Xinhuang Dong Autonomous County of Huaihua early Sunday, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

So far eight people are missing while the remaining have been evacuated by rescue officials to safety. The search for missing people in the area continues, said the agency.

Meanwhile, several parts of the country hit by heavy rain and floods last week got another official yellow alert on Sunday for rainstorms, including Hunan.

On Saturday, Chinese authorities said they found six people dead after they went missing a week ago during landslides triggered by massive rains in the southeastern province of Fujian.

Heavy rains have struck southern China since the annual flooding season got an early start.

Some 47 people have been killed in China’s southern Guangdong province over the past four days, where torrential rains triggered flash floods and mudslides, destroying thousands of low-lying houses and damaging roads and crops.