Seven farmers were killed and four others injured in a rain-triggered landslide in southwest China's Yunnan Province on Sunday, provincial government sources said yesterday.

The accident occurred at 2:50 AM when a landslide crashed down a mountain in Xinping County of Yuxi City, engulfing three households and affecting 17 others.

The landslide was caused by a rainstorm that had hit the county for five hours. Some 1,365 cubic meters of earth were washed away from the hill, 180 km from the provincial capital of Kunming.

Transport and water in some villages have been cut off, and the landslide incurred 12 million yuan (US$1.4 million) in direct economic losses, according to the provincial government.

Over 500 rescue workers evacuated local residents and are working to restore damaged roads and water supplies.

The county suffered another serious landslide in August 2002 that left 40 people dead and caused economic losses of 228 million yuan (US$28 million).

According to Vice Minister of Civil Affairs Jia Zhibang on July 4, floods, landslides and mud and rock flows had left 943 people dead, 205 missing and 3.21 million displaced in the first half of the year.

(Xinhua News Agency August 9, 2005)