Death toll from China storms rises to at least 20

CHINA: The death toll from Typhoon Sepat in southeastern China has risen to at least 20, the government said Monday, as the remnants of the storm continued to cause damage.

In the southeastern province of Fujian, eight people were confirmed dead after torrential rain triggered flooding and mudslides, an official at the Ministry of Civil Affairs told AFP.

Meanwhile, at least 12 have been killed in the eastern province of Zhejiang, where a tornado that spun off from the typhoon ripped through Wenzhou city, said the official who declined to give his name.

The semi-official China News Service website reported that the death toll in Wenzhou had risen to 14, with more than 60 injured, six of them seriously.

State media had on Sunday put the death toll from Sepat at 15.

A report on the ministry’s website said 13 people remained missing, without specifying where they lived.

It said a total of 4.58 million people in Fujian, Zhejiang and Jiangxi provinces have been affected, while authorities have evacuated more than one million people.

The storms destroyed about 141,400 (350,000 acres) hectares of farmland across the three provinces, where over 7,600 houses have fallen and 28,000 others were damaged, it added.

Direct economic losses across the three provinces are estimated at 2.46 billion yuan (324 million dollars), the ministry said.

“The impact of the typhoon is tapering off but there will be more disasters yet such as rains, landslides, flows of mud and rocks,” the official told AFP.

The China Meteorological Administration said on its website that Sepat had been downgraded to a tropical depression after it entered Fujian late Sunday. It has since moved inland to neighbouring Jiangxi province.

Beijing, Tuesday, AFP