Rescuers have found the bodies of the two villagers who went missing Tuesday in a rainstorm-inflicted flood along the Piaohe River in Harbin, capital of northeast China's Heilongjiang Province.

A spokesman for the local government said the bodies of Feng Yong and his cousin Feng Ce were found at 5:00 AM Wednesday in paddy field close to their family's fishpond.

The cousins, both peasant farmers from Hulan District in Harbin, went missing as the flood peak in Piaohe River began rushing to the lower reaches at about 2:00 PM Tuesday. They were on their way home after fencing the fishpond with nets to protect the fishes from being washed away.

Piaohe is a small river rarely prone to flood, but heavy rainstorm in its upper reaches since Monday night formed a flood peak rushing to the lower reaches in a short time
 
(Xinhua News Agency August 17, 2005)