China typhoon leaves 32 missing in landslides
Rescue workers on hunt for survivors in two remote villages
BEIJING // At least 32 people were reported missing yesterday after rain-hit hillsides collapsed on villages in south-east China after a typhoon.
A rescue operation was underway in Sucun village in China’s Zhejiang province south of Shanghai after it was hit by a landslide on Wednesday, leaving 26 missing and six missing in Baofeng village in the same province after a landslide destroyed their homes.
The landslides were triggered by torrential rain brought by Typhoon Megi.
The storm had already killed at least five people in China and Taiwan and forced the closure of schools and offices and the cancellation of hundreds of flights.
Rescue crews and sniffer dogs combed through piles of mud and rock in the forested areas. Megi caused more than $ 10 million (Dh36.7m) in damages as it swept across Taiwan be- fore weakening into a tropical storm after hitting Quanzhou in China’s Fujian province on Wednesday.
At its height, it packed winds of up to 118 kph, said China’s national meteorological centre.
In Fuzhou, Fujian’s capital, people were shown on state television walking through kneedeep waters that had swamped major roads.
Rescue workers were seen pulling stranded residents through the streets on inflatable boats. Taiwan’s central emergency operations centre reported that 625 people were injured by Megi, including eight Japanese tourists whose tour bus flipped on its side.
Three people suffered fatal falls and a fourth person died in a truck crash, according to the centre.
Megi dropped 12 inches of rain in the south and eastern mountains of Taiwan.
More than 220 flights were canceled at Taiwan’s Taoyuan International Airport.
It was the fourth typhoon to hit Taiwan this year and the third in two weeks.