Heavy rain has killed three people and displaced 12,000 in northeast Argentina over the past two days, provincial authorities said Wednesday.

Two children were drowned near Resistencia city, the capital of Chaco province, which is 1,190 km north of Buenos Aires.

In Goya City, 730 km north of Buenos Aires, a girl of seven years old died when her house collapsed while she was sleeping.

In Chaco province, 5,000 people were evacuated, while 3,500 in Corrientes province, and 3,200 in Concordia city.

Concordia mayor Gustavo Bordet said the situation was critical because the Uruguay River reached 14.5-meter high, 50 centimeters less than the mark determined to apply the general alert.

The rain began to hit the region early Tuesday morning. Earlier, the region had been affected by a severe drought, which killed thousands of livestock and poultry.