TWELVE individuals and company representatives accused of bribing a convicted senior official in Yunnan Province will go on trial, the Legal Daily reported yesterday.

Hu Xing, 48, former transport chief of Yunnan Province, was convicted Wednesday for malfeasance and taking more than 40 million yuan (US$5.3 million) in bribes from the 12 companies or individuals, the newspaper reported. Hu reportedly receiving money ranging from about 200,000 yuan to more than 30 million yuan from the accused, the report said. Chen Zuyuan, a Shenzhen businessman, allegedly gave Hu 32 million yuan, which would be a record for bribery in the province.

Lightning kills 5

FIVE people were killed and 16 others were injured when lightning struck a funeral Friday in Xuzhou City, Jiangsu Province, Xinhua reported yesterday.

The lightning bolt hit a plastic shack that a villager had constructed to hold a funeral for his wife. Three people were killed at the scene and two others died in hospital. The 16 injured were in stable condition, the report said.

6 killed in rainstorms

SIX people were killed in East China's Shandong Province when a rainstorm swept through the eastern part of the region over the weekend.

The victims were from Qingdao and Rizhao. One was inside a house when it collapsed, one was struck by lightning and four drowned in rivers. Shandong has been pounded by heavy rain since Thursday.