Thousands evacuated as storm nears southern China

HONG KONG: Typhoon Prapiroon, which killed six people and forced thousands to flee their homes in the northern Philippines, churned towards southern China on Thursday and tens of thousands were evacuated ahead of its arrival.

At 0200 GMT, the centre of Prapiroon, which means "God of rain" in Thai, was about 290 km southwest of Hong Kong and is forecast to move at about 14 km an hour towards China's Guangdong province, the Hong Kong observatory said.

Southern China, already hard hit by tropical storms Bilis and Kaemi last month, was bracing for Prapiroon.

China's Central Meteorological Office said the centre Prapiroon was expected to hit somewhere between the cities of Yangjiang and Xuwen by Thursday afternoon or evening.

Hong kong, Thursday, Reuters