Beijing - The death toll has risen to 26 with more than 40 people still missing after heavy rain caused landslides in mountainous areas of south-western China's Yunnan province, the government said Monday.

Torrential rain caused mud and rock to flow down valleys and hillsides in at least 13 counties of Yunnan over the past few days, affecting more than 411,000 people, the provincial Civil Affairs Department reported on its website.

At least 284 homes collapsed and more than 700 others were damaged with electricity and telecommunications cut off to several areas, the report said.

State media quoted officials as saying it was still too early to confirm the exact number of landslides in remote areas.

More than 25,000 people were evacuated in Yunnan's worst-hit district of Chuxiong, the Civil Affairs Department said.

The official Xinhua news agency said rescue workers recovered four more bodies Monday in one village in Chuxiong, taking the death toll in the district to 20, with 41 people missing.

The provincial government dispatched five teams of relief workers and sent food, tents, clothes and bedding to Chuxiong unthe worst-hit areas.

About 150 soldiers were searching for people reported missing but continuing heavy rain was hampering their work, the agency said.

Four deaths were reported in the provincial capital, Kunming, and two in Yunnan's Lincang city, it said.

Another eight people died and two were missing after heavy rain hit Yunnan's neighbouring region of Guangxi, it said in a separate report.

The rain affected nearly 850,000 people and forced the evacuation of 91,000 residents of 18 counties in Guangxi, the agency said. (dpa)