A freight train derailed in Ankang, Northwest China's Shaanxi Province after being struck by a landslide on Monday afternoon, local authorities said.

Two drivers of the train were killed in the accident.

Eight carriages of the freight train came off the track at around 3 pm, after a landslide scattered debris on parts of the track, according to the railway bureau of Xi'an, the provincial capital.

The accident happened on the Xunyang-Zongxi section of the railway, which runs from Central China's Hubei Province to Southwest China's Chongqing municipality.

The accident did not affect passenger train traffic, the bureau said.

Railway authorities have sent rescue teams to the site, but the rescue efforts were hampered by heavy rain. The county of Xunyang has seen continuous rain for several days and that might cause the landslide, a local resident surnamed Liu told the Nandu Daily.