9 dead in Haiyan-triggered rainstorms in China

BEIJING: Nine persons have been killed in incidents triggered by Typhoon Haiyan, after the deadly storm claimed over 10,000 lives in the Philippines.

Two bodies were found by rescuers in the southern island province of Hainan today and the victims are suspected to be sailors from a cargo ship that went missing in the South China Sea yesterday, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

Five crew members of the ship remained missing after the ship's mooring rope broke when the typhoon drove the vessel away from Sanya in Hainan, the report said.

Ships, speed boats and helicopters were mobilised to join the search, but the rescue effort proved futile as the typhoon raged, it said.

The national observatory issued a rainstorm alert today for the southern provinces as rain and tidal waves caused at least seven deaths in the region.

By this evening, the typhoon had brought economic losses of close to about USD 810 million in Hainan, especially in the agricultural, fishing and forestry sectors, said Chen Wu, spokesman for the Hainan Provincial Flood, Drought and Typhoon Prevention Department.

Typhoon Haiyan has destroyed over 3,600 houses and damaged about 1.22 lakh hectares of farmland in the province.

In neighbouring Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, gales and rainstorms cut the power supply to over 1.58 lakh houses.

Over 300 teams have been sent on emergency rescues. The storm is expected to bring heavy rains to Guangxi and the provinces of Guangdong, Hunan, Jiangxi, Fujian and Guizhou today and tomorrow.

The typhoon has not caused major damage in the country after causing mass destruction and thousands of deaths in the Philippines. It made landfall in Vietnam today and was weakening.