Torrential rain swept away parents and pupils going home from school on Thursday afternoon, killing five and leaving two pupils missing, in northeast China's Jinlin Province, local authorities said.

Some pupils and their parents were on their way home when they were suddenly rushed away by a surge in a waterway along the road around 4:00 PM in Changqing Village of Yushu City, Jilin Province, local officials said.

After hours of searching, the government had found five bodies, including an elderly person and four pupils. As of 9:40 PM., the other two pupils were still missing.

The rain focused in central Jilin and was recorded to be only nine mm, said Wang Xiaoming, head of the provincial Meteorological Observatory.

The sudden surge of water was probably caused by partial torrential rain at an upriver location, Wang said.

(Xinhua News Agency June 6, 2008)