BEIJING — The death toll from a flash flood that hit a primary school in northeast China rose to 64 on Saturday, as information began trickling out from the remote area a day after the tragedy.

The torrent Friday in Heilongjiang province swept 62 students to their deaths, plus two villagers, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.

Water from heavy rains swept down a mountain and inundated the Chang'an Primary School at about 2 p.m. Friday, reports have said.

Some 352 students, all between 6 and 14 years old, and 31 teachers were in the school when the waters struck, the reports said.

Initial reports said 29 people were killed, and authorities announced the dramatically higher death toll Saturday afternoon.

Meanwhile in the country's south, officials were shoring up the banks of rivers already swollen by weeks of rain -- with more rain on the way.

Floods in China kill hundreds each year during the June-to-August rainy season, as rivers overflow and water rushes down mountains denuded of trees.

More than 200 people have been reported dead in floods since June 1, many of them in the south-central province of Hunan where more rain was forecast Saturday.

"The rain belt that has been battering eight provinces since May 31 is now moving south," Xinhua quoted a spokesman for the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters as saying.

In China's far southern provinces of Yunnan and Hainan, however, drought has scorched crops, threatened livestock and left millions without enough drinking water, Xinhua said.