Eleven people are dead, one is missing and nine have been injured in violent rainstorms in two Chinese provinces.

Southwest China's Sichuan Province reported seven deaths and nine injuries on Friday in Liangshan Autonomous Prefecture of the Yi nationality after continuous rainfall on Wednesday and Thursday brought hailstorms, lightening strikes and landslides, said a spokesman of the provincial disaster relief office.

On Wednesday morning, heavy rain hit Dahuadi Village of Ningnan County and induced a mud-slide, which left five villagers dead, two others seriously injured and seven houses destroyed. Crops on about 6.7 hectares of farmland were destroyed.

In the prefecture capital of Xichuang City, famed for its rocket launching center, a lightning strike killed two people and injured seven others on Thursday in Masang Village. About 8,600 people in 18 towns were affected and 20 houses collapsed.

The injured have been hospitalized and relief operations are continuing.

Rainstorms also hit central Hunan Province from Wednesday night through Thursday, leaving three people dead, one missing and 158,000 homeless, reported the Ministry of Civil Affairs on Friday.

The rainstorms resulted in the collapse of 3,807 houses, destroyed 57,000 hectares of crops and caused direct economic losses topping 580 million yuan (US$75 million). About 75,000 people now have no access to drinking water.

A ministry spokesman said an emergency rescue group had been sent to the disaster-hit area as the situation was worsening.

In Kazak Autonomous Prefecture of Ili, northwestern Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, hailstorms, rainstorms and floods slammed into six towns on Thursday, washing away one farmer while he was herding his flock near a canal.

In Suxian County, rainstorms have destroyed more than 60 houses, affected about 6,600 hectares of farmland and 800 hectares of grassland, causing 7 million yuan (US$900,000) of economic losses.

(Xinhua News Agency June 9, 2007)