A severe rainstorm killed four people in east China's Jiangsu Province early Sunday, Xinhua quoted local meteorological bureau as saying. The four villagers in Fengxian County, Xuzhou City, were crushed to death at about 2 a.m. after fallen trees caused their houses to collapse. Four cities and counties in Jiangsu had received precipitation of more than 25 millimeters by 5 a.m. Sunday as thunderstorms swept the province on the weekends. Torrential rain will continue to lash the region in the four days through July 1 and some parts could receive rainfall of as much as 150 millimeters, the provincial meteorological bureau said. Heavy rain also wreaked havoc in the southwestern municipality of Chongqing as one quarry worker was still missing Sunday after being washed away by flood in Fengjie County. The heavy rain from Saturday to Sunday has affected 196,500 people in seven districts and counties in Chongqing and incurred a direct economic loss of 127 million yuan (18.6 million U.S. dollars). The municipal meteorological bureau warned that the losses could rise as the heaviest rain this summer would hit the city from Sunday night to Tuesday.
