Typhoon kills up to 56 in eastern China

BEIJING, Sunday (Reuters) - A typhoon has killed up to 56 people in eastern China after unleashing torrential rains and triggering floods and landslides, state media said on Sunday.

Typhoon Talim, which swept across mainland China's east coast from Thursday, after battering the island of Taiwan, had claimed some 40 lives in Anhui province alone, the Beijing News said.

Economic damage was estimated at 7.1 billion yuan ($877 million), the Xinhua news agency said late on Saturday. Xinhua put the total death toll at 43, with 27 believed to be missing, in the provinces of Zhejiang, Anhui and Fujian.

One person had died as a result in Jiangxi province, the Beijing News said.No comment was immediately available from the Ministry of Civil Affairs or the National Meteorological Centre.

Chinese authorities had evacuated hundreds of thousands of people from their homes as they braced for the typhoon, which weakened into a tropical storm on Friday.

At least three people were killed and 59 injured as Talim pounded Taiwan, leaving hundreds of thousands of homes without power.