BEIJING >> Chinese authorities say nine people were killed and four others were hurt when they were hit by a freight train while walking on a railway bridge near the northern port city of Qinhuangdao.

The Taiyuan Railway Bureau in Hebei province said on its official microblogging site today that the victims were local villagers who decided to walk across the railway bridge after rains washed out a local road.

It said the train could not stop in time.

Recent heavy rains have washed out roads in many parts of northern China.