Nine people have been confirmed dead, with the fate of six others unknown, since torrential rain began last week in the Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan Province, local authorities said on Monday.

Three waves of downpours drenched the prefecture between last Tuesday and Saturday, affecting 217,000 people in 11 counties and cities.

The rain triggered mud-rock flows in the worst-hit area, Long'en Village, Zhaojue County, where cumulative rain stood at 223.1 millimeters, toppling a house where six people died and another person was injured.

Three other deaths were reported in similar incidents. Local officials didn't give further details.

The death toll could rise further, with rescuers still trying to extricate six villagers from debris in Xide County, where five households were buried in a landslide. Seventeen other people were rescued earlier.

Rain continued to inundate large parts of China in July, causing death and upheaval. At least 12 people were killed in the central Hubei Province and six in southwestern Yunnan over the weekend. Local governments were warned to be on alert for secondary disasters.

(Xinhua News Agency July 8, 2008)