Typhoon Rammasun kills 18 in China

Damage to a building after typhoon Rammasun made land in Haikou, capital of Hainan province in southern China. Photograph: Xia Yifang/Xinhua Press/Corbis
The strongest typhoon to hit southern China in four decades has killed 18 people, according to the government, while in the Philippines the death toll from the storm rose to 94.
Typhoon Rammasun killed nine people and left five missing after hitting Hainan island off China's southern coast on Friday, the civil affairs ministry said in a statement. Nine others died later in the Guangxi region as the storm plowed into the mainland on its way towards Vietnam.
The typhoon is the strongest to hit southern China in 41 years, according to the China Meteorological Administration. Wind speeds reached 130 miles (216km) an hour, with the storm knocking down power lines and damaging buildings, Xinhua said.
Authorities in southern China ordered the highest level of alert and suspended hundreds of buses, trains and flights across the region.
The typhoon had wreaked havoc earlier in the week in the northern Philippines, leaving 94 people dead.

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