/ 18 August 2006

China typhoon death toll rises to 436

The death toll in China from Typhoon Saomai rose by 106 to 436 on Friday with the confirmation of dozens more deaths in the eastern province of Zhejiang, state media said.

All 106 new fatalities were in the coastal province of Zhejiang, which had previously reported 87 dead and 52 missing, Xinhua news agency said.

Of the 193 deaths, 144 in the province were due to house collapses caused by heavy rain and strong winds brought by Saomai, according to the provincial flood control headquarters, Xinhua said.

A total of 241 people were killed in the worst-hit province of Fujian. Most of the victims were from the devastated city of Fuding, where 11 more bodies were discovered, Xinhua reported earlier on Friday.

The death toll in neighbouring Jiangxi provinces remained at two, it said.

Saomai, the strongest typhoon to hit China in 50 years, made landfall on Thursday last week.

Saomai was the eighth typhoon of the summer to hit China, with the storms leaving hundreds, if not thousands, of people dead or missing.

Typhoon Prapiroon, which made landfall on August 3, killed at least 80 people and Tropical Storm Bilis, which hit on July 14, claimed at least 600 lives. — AFP