Five missing in China mudslides

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BEIJING, Sept. 2 (UPI) -- Five villagers in China's southwest Yunnan province were missing after being swept away by mudslides, triggered by heavy rains, authorities said.

Yunnan and Sichuan provinces have been pounded by continuing heavy rains, affecting tens of thousands of people, Xinhua News Agency reported.

The mudslides, which struck Sunday evening, hit a group of eight villagers returning home in Baliu township in Yunnan province. Five of them were carried away, the news agency said.

In Sichuan province, the severe rainstorms, which began Thursday, had affected more than 650,000 people and about 62,000 of them were forced to relocate, officials said.

The rains also have flooded nearly 72,000 acres of farmland and destroyed 8,500 homes, Xinhua reported.