Hato rips into region

THE death toll from Typhoon Hato has risen to 12 as the most powerful storm to hit the southern Chinese region near Hong Kong in more than half a century barrelled west.

Eight people died in the gambling enclave of Macau and 153 others were injured.

Four more people were killed in the neighbouring province of Guangdong and one person remained missing.

Hato roared into the area with winds of up to 160km/h. Macau lawmaker Jose Pereira Coutinho called the typhoon destruction “a calamity”.