Typhoon threat looms over S China Sea; tourists rescued

BEIJING: Forty-eight tourists who were stranded on an Island in the South China Sea were rescued as typhoon Talas approached its coast in the country's south Guangdong province, officials here said today.

The tourists belonged to four camping groups visiting the uninhabited Nanpeng Island, some 35 kms east of Zhapo, Yangjiang city, according to the Ministry of Transport.

Due to typhoon Talas, this year's fourth typhoon, the tourists, unable to return home themselves, had to be transferred safely to a rescue ship and a rescue helicopter dispatched by the Guangzhou-headquartered Nanhai Rescue Bureau of the Ministry of Transport.

China's national observatory today renewed a blue alert for typhoon Talas, which is expected to hit Hainan province and Beibu Gulf.

The eye of Talas was above the South China Sea some 60 km to the southwest of Sanya city, packing winds of up to 23 meters per second, the National Meteorological Center (NMC) said in a statement.

The NMC forecast that Talas would move north-westward at a speed of about 20 km per hour towards Beibu Gulf and make landfall on the northeast coast of Vietnam tomorrow.

From this afternoon to tomorrow afternoon, parts of the South China Sea, Beibu Gulf, Qiongzhou Strait, Hainan and coastal areas of Guangdong and Guangxi will experience strong winds, while storms with up to 140 mm of precipitation are expected to affect parts of Guangdong, Guangxi and Hainan.