Typhoon Chanchu kills 11 after slamming in China

Eleven people are confirmed dead and four others are missing after Typhoon Chanchu made landfall in southeastern China's coastal areas Thursday, according to the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters and the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

A landslide smashed into two houses and claimed the lives of at least eight villagers in Fujian Province, four others are missing.

Three others, including two children, in neighboring Guangdong Province died early Thursday morning when their houses collapsed, injuring two elder people, the provincial flood-control office said.

Five other people were killed in a traffic accident, reported the Guangdong Provincial Flood-Control Office.

Meanwhile there are unconfirmed reports that 27 Vietnamese fishermen, sailing in Chinese waters, have gone missing in the storm.

The typhoon slammed in Shantou City of Guangdong at 2:15 a.m. Thursday and continued northward along the coastal areas of neighboring Fujian, bringing gale-force winds and rainstorms to the regions and triggering flooding, mountain torrents and landslides.

Nearly 200 houses in north Shantou were flooded stranding more than 6,400 people Thursday morning.

More than 3.15 million residents of Fujian and over 154,000 hectares of cropland have been affected by the typhoon, incurring a loss of 3.8 billion yuan (475 million U.S. dollars).

Some 1.03 million people have been safely relocated in the two typhoon-hit provinces by Thursday afternoon, and evacuation of areas likely to be affected by the powerful storm continued.

Chanchu, the strongest tropical storm ever recorded in month of May, is moving northeast and is expected to pass through the middle and southern areas of Zhejiang Province before arriving in the East China Sea on Thursday evening, the Zhejiang Provincial Observatory forecast earlier the day.

Chanchu, which means "pearl", formed in the Pacific, about 550 km east of Mindanao island in the Philippines on May 9. It hit central Philippines on Saturday, killing at least 32 people and affecting thousands of others.

Sailors aboard Belgian freighter rescued

Eight sailors aboard a Belgian freighter whose engines broke down were rescued from the wrath of Chanchu yesterday.

Dejin, a Chinese rescue vessel assigned to the task, also went to the aid of 24 Vietnamese fishermen on its way back.

They were among at least 73 people helped by rescue teams across the country, according to the China Rescue & Salvage Bureau under the Ministry of Communications.

At least six ships and three planes were deployed in the rescue efforts.

Pompei, the 1,000-ton freighter, reported that its engines stopped working on Wednesday.

It was then about 35 nautical miles from Dongsha Islands, and in "the most vulnerable position," Zhou Wanli of the Nanhai Rescue & Salvage Bureau said.

"With no power at all, the 60-metre ship was likely to capsize at any time in the high waves," he said.

Dejin reached Pompei yesterday afternoon and was sailing back with the 8 sailors onboard with the freighter being towed when it had to change direction to locate Vietnamese fishing boats that were reported missing, said Li Weihua with the China Rescue & Salvage Bureau.

The rescue ship came across one of the boats at around 5 am yesterday; and the 24 Vietnamese fishermen were given food, water and fuel.

But 27 Vietnamese fishermen were still missing after three boats went down in Chinese waters after being swept up in the storm, officials said.

Viet Nam asked China to help search for the missing.

Source: Xinhua/China Daily