Typhoon hits Korea after battering Japan
SEOUL/TOKYO: South Korea hunkered down as Typhoon Haishen travelled northwards along the country’s east coast yesterday, a day after the powerful storm battered Japan’s southern islands where four people are missing following a landslip.
The storm, carrying top sustained winds of up to 112kmh, cut power to more than 17,500 households in the southern tip of the Korean peninsula as it made landfall in the southern city of Ulsan, the country’s weather agency said.
The wild weather uprooted trees and caused landslips near apartment buildings on Geoje
Island, according to footage sent by residents to local broadcaster KBS.
At least one person was injured after their car overturned in strong winds in Busan, the country’s second largest city, where there was also flooding, the safety ministry said in a statement.
More than 1600 people were evacuated in preparation for the storm, while more than 76 flights across 7 airports, including Jeju International Airport, were cancelled.
Two nuclear reactors in the city of Gyeongju, about 375km southeast of Seoul, were shut down, according to Yonhap news agency. Entries to national parks and some national train services have been suspended, the ministry said.
In Japan, the Kyodo news agency reported four people were missing and more than 50 people were injured in the wake of the typhoon. The four went missing in the village of Shiiba, in Miyazaki prefecture, after a mudslide hit the office of a construction firm, Kyodo said.
Kyushu Electric said about 290,000 houses were still without power.
A SOUTHLAND man described as ‘‘a top bloke who wanted to see the world’’ was aboard the livestock ship now missing in the typhoonhit East China Sea southwest of Japan.
Lochie Bellerby, aged in his late 20s, has been described by a former manager as an ‘‘adventurous’’ man.
Mr Bellerby was a shepherd at Tangihau Station in 2013, and a former manager remembers him as a ‘‘top bloke’’ and a hard worker.
‘‘He was very adventurous. He wanted to see the world,’’ he said.
It was a shock to hear Mr Bellerby had been on the illfated boat, he said.
Photos on Instagram showed Mr Bellerby in different locations around the world, atop mountains, hunting, riding a motorbike and working in Australia.
The search for 40 missing crew, including Mr Bellerby and fellow New Zealander Scott Harris, from the capsized cattle ship was still suspended last night.
The ship was carrying 43 crew members and nearly 6000 cattle when it sank five days ago, after leaving Napier on August 14.
Yesterday, Japan's coastguard said its searchandrescue mission for the missing crew remained suspended with no timing set for resumption.
So far, two crew members have been rescued, while another died after being found unconscious on Friday.
The search was suspended due to bad weather on Saturday, when Typhoon Haishen was headed towards southwestern Japan.
Yesterday, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Winston Peters told the families of the missing New Zealanders Mfat had ‘‘done all we can do’’ and was engaging with its Japanese counterparts.
He said police had contacted the families, and they were being kept uptodate.
In a statement, an Mfat spokesperson said the ministry acknowledged this was a stressful time for the families involved and it would continue to provide all possible assistance to them.
‘‘They are being updated as soon as information comes to hand. However, there are still many unknown factors in this tragedy, and information is scarce.’’