RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - The death toll from heavy rains in Brazil's Rio Grande do Sul state has climbed to 136, local civil defense said on Saturday, up from 126 in the previous day, while another 125 people remain unaccounted for.

Storms and floods battering the South American country's southernmost state, home to some 10.9 million people, have also left almost 340,000 displaced, according to the local civil defense.

(Reporting by Fabio Teixeira; editing by Diane Craft)