At least 11 people are dead and four are missing in rain-triggered disasters last month in Guizhou Province and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, local flood control and drought relief headquarters said Tuesday.

The latest fatalities were registered in Shiqian County, of Tongren prefecture, Monday when a minivan was hit by a landslide. Three of the people aboard died at the scene and two were rescued later.

Two other villagers were also buried by a landslide in Meitan County of Zunyi City Sunday when they were trying to repair a tunnel damaged by continuous rain.

Three people remained missing after rains hit many regions of Guizhou early last month.

More than 70,000 people across Guizhou have suffered property losses due to the rain, which destroyed 52 homes, ruined more than 4,000 hectares of farmland and incurred 13.1 million yuan (US$1.92 million) in economic losses.

Longping Town, of Luodian County, has received the most rain since Monday, recording 171.7 mm.

Rain is forecast to hit parts of the province Tuesday night and Wednesday.

In the neighboring Guangxi, rainstorms have caused floods in 12 counties of six cities since Monday, leaving more than 1.17 million people suffering property losses.

More than 57,800 people have been relocated to safe places after 2,273 homes were damaged, and almost 78,000 hectares of crops were damaged, according to Guangxi's Civil Affairs Administration.

A villager is missing and two others were injured Tuesday after being buried by a landslide caused by rain in Fangchenggang City, which has received 117 mm of rain since Monday.

In the worst-hit city of Laibin, more than 75,000 people in 51 townships had suffered economic losses and almost 38,000 had been relocated to safe areas, Laibin's flood-control and drought-relief headquarters said Tuesday.

The rain damaged some 2,000 homes, cut 15 roads and forced at least three big industrial plants to halt operations in the city.

At least 38 primary and middle schools there have suspended classes due to the rain, but there has been no report of casualties among students, according to the educational administration of Guangxi.

Flooding trapped more than 800 students in a five-storey building of the Experimental Middle School of Laibin Tuesday, said Wei Wei, an official with the city's Educational Bureau.

By 10:30 AM Tuesday, flood water as deep as 1.5 meters had submerged the ground floor of the building, forcing the students upstairs, Wei said.

Rescuers had managed to take all the students out on lifeboats by 4:30 PM and those who could not return home were taken to hotels, said Shi Fang, the school's president.

The meteorological station in Guangxi issued a rain alert Tuesday and the rain is forecast to last until Wednesday.

Neighboring Guangdong Province also had thunderstorms and gales Tuesday with the highest rainfall of 248.4 mm recorded in Xitou Town, of Yangjiang City, according to Guangdong's meteorological station.

Rainstorms will continue to hit many parts of Guangdong until Thursday, said Liang Jian, a forecaster at the station.

(Xinhua News Agency June 2, 2010)