Six people are dead and another is missing after rains triggered a landslide in central China's Hunan Province on Thursday, the local government said.

The landslide happened in Shuangfeng County, which saw an average rainfall of 100 mm Thursday, the county government said in a statement on Friday.

It toppled at least two homes in Shiniu Village, killing a family of four and leaving another villager missing. Two more deaths were reported in the neighboring towns of Santangpu and Heye.

The local government on Thursday closed two of the county's five bridges to all vehicles and pedestrians, and sent security guards to keep watch at the other three, as safety precautions.

As of Friday, the rainstorm has destroyed 3,800 homes, 800 embankments and almost 40,000 hectares of cropland in the county, the local flood control office said.

The Ministry of Civil Affairs sent a disaster relief team to Hunan Thursday night.

Rainstorms that started on Sunday have battered 22 areas across the country, killing 95 people and leaving 21 missing, the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters said Wednesday.

It said the rainstorms caused 10.78 billion yuan (US$1.48 billion) in direct economic losses.

(Xinhua News Agency July 3, 2009)