Flash floods have killed eight people and left 27 others missing in southwest China's Yunnan Province, the local government said Friday.

Five people were also injured in the flash floods that broke out at about 3:00 a.m. Thursday in the Lengquan Township, Mengzi County, the Hani-Yi Autonomous Prefecture of Honghe, according to sources with general office of the prefecture government.

The flash floods were caused by torrential rains and swept away work sheds beside an expressway that is being built in Lengquan, the sources said.

Rescuers have arrived at the scene to treat the injured workers and search the missing people.

Mengzi, about 300 kilometers south to Kunming, capital of Yunnan Province, is the place where China's railway and highway to Vietnam passes through.

(Xinhua News Agency July 21, 2006)