China searching for six people after truck falls into river after heavy rains

BEIJING- Rescuers were searching on Monday for six people missing after a pickup truck carrying 15 passengers fell into a flooded river in China's southern province of Guangxi amid heavy rains, killing four, state broadcaster CCTV said.

More downpours are expected after heavy rains drenched central and eastern China on the weekend, lashing provinces such as Jiangxi and Hunan, weather authorities said.

"People first and life first" is the driving principle for response efforts, China's emergency management ministry said in a statement, calling for all government departments to try to prevent accidents from heavy rainfall.

The rains would gradually move eastward and southward across China over the next three days, the National Meteorological Center (NMC) said.

It warned of the worsening risk of mountain torrents, flooding in small and medium-sized rivers and urban waterlogging, among other threats.

The city of Jingzhou in the central province of Hubei declared measures to suspend work and business activities as part of its emergency response to flooding. Rescuers used boats to navigate submerged streets in images broadcast by CCTV.

Daily rainfall in Yichang, also in Hubei, broke a 36-year record over the weekend, the Hubei Daily said. Authorities shut tourist sites and ordered schools to suspend outdoor classes.

(Reporting by Farah Master in Hong Kong, Laurie Chen in Beijing and the Beijing newsroom; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan and Clarence Fernandez)