A train cabin hangs in mid-air yesterday after flood water washed away part of the railway bridge spanning the Shiting River on the route between Deyang and Guanghan, both in Sichuan Province. The train heading to Kunming City, capital of Yunnan Province, from Xi'an in Shaanxi Province, braked when the conductor discovered the emergency. All the 1,300 passengers aboard were ordered off the train without casualties.

China struggled to cope with widespread storms that left dozens missing and presumed dead yesterday as rescuers cleaned up a mudslide-stricken town.

Two passenger train cars plunged into a river after crossing a flood-damaged bridge, but no one was killed.

Rescue workers found six bodies in Puladi township of southwest China's Yunnan Province, a day after a wall of mud crashed through the mountain community. Rains expected over the next few days are likely to hamper efforts to find 86 people still listed as missing.

It was just the latest landslide to strike China in a summer that has been plagued by deadly rains and flooding. The worst recent landslide was on August 8 in Zhouqu of Gansu Province, where 1,364 people were killed and 401 others remain missing.

In southwestern Sichuan Province, authorities managed to evacuate all passengers from the two train cars that dangled for several minutes over a muddy, rushing river before falling into the water.

Conductor acts

No casualties were reported and no one was missing as all the passengers had been ordered off the train before it derailed at about 3:20pm on the Shitingjiang Bridge in Guanghan City, rescuers and railway authorities said.

"The conductor became aware of the danger just before the train reached the bridge. He made an emergency stop and got all passengers off safely," a soldier involved in the rescue operation said. "We haven't found anyone missing."

The train was traveling in Guanghan when it began shaking and then stopped moving, dining car supervisor Wang Baoning told China Central Television.

Floodwaters had loosened piers on the bridge.

The two cars were hanging over the water in a "V" shape, but were still connected to the adjacentcarriages, Wang said. It took more than 10 minutes to evacuate passengers from the cars, he said.

"Less than two minutes later, one carriage fell into the river. About 10 minutes after that, the other one fell in too," he said.

Sichuan, again

The train cars were swept a short distance downstream and were almost completely submerged, trapped against the base of another bridge, CCTV footage showed.

Heavy rains have pounded Sichuan this summer, triggering floods and landslides. Three people were killed and four others are missing in rain-triggered flash floods and landslides in a county that was devastated by the 2008 earthquake, local authorities said yesterday.

Torrential rains on Wednesday and yesterday pounded Qingchuan County, which is just recovering from the 2008 quake that left 87,000 people dead or missing.

The rains have triggered flash floods and landslides that have destroyed hundreds of homes and forced more than 10,000 people to evacuate, said a government spokesman.

Meanwhile in Gansu's Zhouqu County, more than 1,700 mudslide evacuees now residing at schools must relocate because students will start the new semester soon.

• yesterday [´jestədi] n.&ad.昨天；前不久 (初中英语单词)
• province [´prɔvins] n.省；领域；范围 (初中英语单词)
• conductor [kən´dʌktə] n.指导者；向导者 (初中英语单词)
• aboard [ə´bɔ:d] ad.&prep.在...上 (初中英语单词)
• missing [´misiŋ] a.缺掉的；失踪的 (初中英语单词)
• rescue [´reskju:] vt.&n.救援；挽救 (初中英语单词)
• deadly [´dedli] a.致命的 ad.死一般地 (初中英语单词)
• carriage [´kæridʒ] n.马车；客车；货运 (初中英语单词)
• wednesday [´wenzdi] n.星期三 (初中英语单词)
• meanwhile [´mi:n´wail] n.&ad.其间；同时 (初中英语单词)
• emergency [i´mə:dʒənsi] n.事变；紧急关头 (高中英语单词)
• southwest [,sauθ´west] n.&a.西南(方)(的) (高中英语单词)
• community [kə´mju:niti] n.团体；社区；公众 (高中英语单词)
• hanging [´hæŋiŋ] n.绞刑 a.悬挂着的 (高中英语单词)
• earthquake [´ə:θkweik] n.地震；大变动 (高中英语单词)
• bridge [bridʒ] n.桥(梁)；鼻梁；桥牌 (英语四级单词)
• widespread [´waidspred] a.广布的；普遍的 (英语四级单词)
• township [´taunʃip] n.乡；区 (英语四级单词)
• hamper [´hæmpə] vt.&n.妨碍，阻止 (英语四级单词)
• adjacent [ə´dʒeisənt] a.接近的；紧接着的 (英语四级单词)
• august [ɔ:´gʌst] a.尊严的；威严的 (英语六级单词)
• southwestern [,sauθ´westən] a.西南的 (英语六级单词)
• supervisor [´su:pəvaizə, ´sju:-] n.管理人；监督人 (英语六级单词)
• downstream [,daun´stri:m] a.&ad.下流的，顺流的 (英语六级单词)
• spokesman [´spəuksmən] n.发言人 (英语六级单词)