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Strongest storm in decades kills 16 in south China Super-typhoon Rammasun leaves 18 dead in southern China
(about 4 hours later)
The strongest typhoon to hit southern China in four decades has killed 16 people after claiming at least 94 lives in the Philippines, officials said Saturday. China has been hit by the worst storm in nearly 40 years that has left 18 dead.
Typhoon Rammasun was blamed for seven deaths and dozens of injuries after hitting Hainan island on Friday off China's southern coast, the Xinhua News Agency reported. Nine people died later in the Guangxi region as the storm plowed into the mainland on its way north to Vietnam. Typhoon Rammasun, which has been classified as a ‘super-typhoon’, killed at least nine people and left five missing after hitting Hainan island on Friday, while nine people died later in the Guangxi region, according to state media.
The typhoon is the strongest to hit southern China in 41 years, according to the China Meteorological Administration. Wind speeds reached 216 kilometers (130 miles) per hour, with the storm knocking down power lines and damaging buildings, Xinhua said. When landing on Friday, the storm had already reached a super-typhoon level, and was the most violent typhoon landing in South China since 1973, the country’s meteorological administration said, with winds over 124mph.
Authorities in southern China ordered the highest level of alert and suspended hundreds of buses, trains and flights across the region. The super-typhoon has already wreaked destruction on the northern part of the Philippines, killing a total of 94 people earlier this week, and it is now headed for Vietnam.
The typhoon had wreaked havoc earlier in the week in the northern Philippines, leaving 94 people dead. China has ordered the highest level of alert and suspended hundreds of buses, trains and flights across the region.
AP Most of the people killed in the Philippines were hit by falling debris, while some of the six people that have gone missing are reported to have been at sea on boats, the BBC said.
But a new typhoon called Matmo is threatening to wreak further destruction on the affected areas. Philippine National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council spokesperson Mina Marasigan told AFP, with winds of up to 150mph.