A rainstorm that began on Tuesday has killed five villagers and affected 960,000 others in Guang'an City, southwest China's Sichuan Province, government sources said on Wednesday.
   
The rainstorm hit all counties and townships in the city, with two reporting more than 200 millimeters of rain, according to the provincial disaster relief office.
   
More than 4,600 livestock were killed and 14,000 hectares of cropland was destroyed, the office said.
   
The victims included an old couple, a nine-year old boy, an 18-month old infant and a 70-year old deaf-mute. They all died when buildings collapsed, it said.
   
Traffic, power, water and communications were cut off in the worst-hit areas, according to the office.
   
The storm, which ended on Wednesday morning, caused losses of 150 million yuan (US$19.7 million).
   
Floods have left at least 50 people dead and 23 missing since late May in China's Hubei, Sichuan and Guizhou provinces and Chongqing city, according to the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

(Xinhua News Agency July 5, 2007)