The death toll in heavy flooding in southern Peru where thousands of tourists visiting the Inca city of Machu Micchu were trapped has risen to 20, the BBC reported on Sunday.

The BBC referred to local authorities as saying that at least five more people were missing while almost 40,000 others had been affected by heavy rains, the worst in the country in the past few years.

On Friday, authorities airlifted the last of nearly 4,000 tourists stranded near the Inca ruins of Machu Picchu after floods and rains destroyed road and rail links to the famous site, the BBC said.

The rainy season, which normally occurs in Peru in February, started in the Latin American country in mid-December 2009.

LIMA, January 31 (RIA Novosti)