BEIJING, July 23 -- The death toll from super typhoon Rammasun has increased to 56 as of 9:00 a.m. Wednesday, with another 20 missing, latest official figures show.

The strongest typhoon to hit south China in four decades, Rammasun brought gales, downpours and floods to southern regions, affecting more than 11 million people in the provinces of Guangdong, Hainan and Yunnan as well as Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, said a statement from the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

Nineteen deaths were reported in south China's Hainan, nine in south China's Guangxi and now 28 in neighboring Yunnan, according to the ministry's daily release.

(To stay up to date with the latest China news, follow XHNews on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/XHNews and Xinhua News Agency on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/XinhuaNewsAgency.)