UPDATES DEATH TOLL
By Mahmut Atanur
BEIJING (AA) – A strong typhoon has left at least 29 people dead after causing torrential rains in Taiwan and eastern China.
Chinese state news agency Xinhua reported Saturday that 18 people were killed and 11 others remained missing in Fujian province, with 10 dead and four 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 more than 16.9 billion yuan ($2.6 billion) 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 China's meteorological authority expects to bring heavy downpour and strong winds to the country's east.
In July, a typhoon that was downgraded to a tropical storm before hitting the mainland left at least 83 people dead in Fujian.