Related: Typhoon Prapiroon makes landfall in South China [Video] [gallery]

Vehicles pull sand to reinforce the bank of Sankeng River in Qingyuan, southeast China's Guangdong Province, August 4, 2006. Affected by Typhoon Prapiroon, heavy rainstorms and ensuing floods hit Qingyuan on Friday. (Xinhua Photo)

    HENGXIAN, Guangxi, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- Typhoon Prapiroon has so far killed at least 48 people and left 15 others missing in South China's Guangdong Province and neighboring Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

    The latest increase in the fatalities were from Laibin and Hengxian, both in Guangxi, where typhoon Prapiroon has weakened into a tropical storm but kept its influence tightly, said local sources.

    A flash flood occurred at a private forest farm in Fenghuang Township of Laibin City at 3:20 a.m. on Saturday, sweeping away 13 migrant workers who were working on the farm, according to Li Qiliang, vice mayor of Laibin City.

    Prapiroon brought along torrential rains and strong winds after it began to influence the city from Friday noon, said the vice mayor.

    The transient workers, who were all from Hunan Province, built a temporary shelter in the nearby valley for the nights. So when the flash flood occurred, they became victims.

    The rescuers saved only six of them and found six corpses. One more migrant worker is still missing.

    Three more people were killed and one more injured in a landslide happening in Luming Village of Hengzhou Township, Hengxian County at 7 a.m. on Saturday as one side of a civilian house fell, burying a family of four, said information from the flood control and drought relief headquarters of Hengxian County.

    The three killed were all female. And the injured is the only man in the family.

    One more death was also reported in Bobai, a county in Yulin of Guangxi, after Typhoon Prapiroon entered Guangxi from Bobai early on Friday, washing it with showers from time to time, said local sources.

    Typhoon Prapiroon made landfall at the South China coastal area between Yangxi County and Dianbai County in western Guangdong at 7:20 p.m. Thursday, leaving at least 38 dead and 14 more missing in Guangdong alone.

    Prapiroon, the sixth typhoon of the year, packed up strong winds and dumped torrential rains in Guangdong, with Taishan, Enping, and Yangchun being worst hit, affecting 3.72 million people and razing 7,000 houses. The direct economic losses are forecast at 2.4 billion yuan (300 million U.S. dollars).

    It even produced a tornado which struck areas including Foshan, Shanwei and Shaoguan in Guangdong on Friday, causing nine deaths in Foshan, said a spokesman from the Guangdong Provincial Office for Drought, Flood and Wind Control.

    Information from the Civil Affairs Bureau of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region said 1.43 million people in 28 counties and urban areas were affected by the rains brought along by Prapiroon, including 219,441 people who were displaced.

    Prapiroon, which means Rain God in Thai, formed in the South China Sea and strengthened into a typhoon on Wednesday noon. Enditem