BEIJING, July 5 -- Heavy rain has left 128 people dead and 42 others missing in 11 Chinese provincial regions in five days, figures from the Ministry of Civil Affairs showed on Tuesday.

Continuous rainfall since June 30 has collapsed 41,000 houses and forced the evacuation of more than 1.34 million people in the 11 regions, mostly along the Yangtze River and its distributaries, including Sichuan, Chongqing, Guizhou, Hubei and Jiangsu, according to the ministry.

Nearly 600,000 people are in urgent need of basic living assistance, with 23.33 million being threatened by floods, it said.

The rain has also destroyed 295,200 hectares of crops. Floods and landslides are also affecting telecommunication and electricity facilities, halting or delaying traffic in some regions.

The ministry estimated total economic losses of 38.16 billion yuan (5.73 bln U.S. dollars).