By Mahmut Atanur
BEIJING (AA) – A strong typhoon has left at least 14 people dead after causing torrential rains in Taiwan and eastern China.
Chinese state news agency Xinhua reported Saturday that seven people were killed and nine others remained missing in Fujian province, with six dead and five unaccounted for in neighboring Zhejiang.
Another fatality occurred in Taiwan, where 44 others sustained injuries.
Typhoon Meranti swept through the Bashi Channel to the south of Taiwan on Wednesday, before making landfall in the coastal city of Xiamen on the Chinese mainland early Thursday morning.
The typhoon later hit Fujian with a maximum 15-grade wind force, resulting in the evacuation of 331,000 people as of Friday morning.
It reportedly destroyed 1,600 houses, damaged 22,200 hectares of crops and caused direct economic losses of 1.7 billion yuan ($249 million) in the province.
In Zhejiang, 70,000 people were evacuated and 1.8 billion yuan in direct economic losses recorded, Xinhua cited provincial authorities as saying.
Meanwhile, eastern China is bracing for Typhoon Malakas, which is expected to enter the East China Sea on Saturday.
In July, a typhoon that was downgraded to a tropical storm before hitting the mainland left at least 83 people dead in Fujian.