Storm death toll rises to 57 in south China

BEIJING, Aug 6 (Reuters) Tropical Storm Prapiroon has killed 57 in south China as of Sunday with 16 people still missing, the official Xinhua news agency said, as the storm forced the relocation of more than 660,000 people.

Over five million people were hit by torrential rains after the storm made landfall in the southern province of Guangdong on Thursday evening, triggering landslides, destroying crops and damaging thousands of homes, local officials have said.

Direct economic losses were earlier estimated by local officials at 2.4 billion yuan.

Before it hit China, Prapiroon killed six people in the Philippines. It disrupted hundreds of flights in the regional transport hub of Hong Kong, but the territory's airport returned to normal operations yesterday.

Prapiroon, which means ''God of Rain'' in Thai, was the sixth storm of the season to hit southern China. Tropical storm Bilis killed more than 600 people when it struck in July, and it was quickly followed by Kaemi, which claimed at least 30 lives.

REUTERS AB RAI1616