Typhoon Megi Hits Chinese Mainland
Baku, October 23 (AZERTAC). China`s official news agency says a typhoon initially feared to be the worst in 50 years weakened as it made landfall Saturday in southeastern Fujian province.
The official Xinhua news agency says Typhoon Megi landed at Liu`ao Town with winds of up to 140 kilometers per hour.
Megi is forecast to weaken further as it heads northwest through the Chinese inland.
On Friday, Taiwan dispatched helicopters to rescue around 400 tourists trapped on a coastal highway after Megi caused massive rock slides as it brushed past the island.
At least 30 buses, vans and private vehicles have been trapped on a scenic highway in Yilan County since Thursday. Officials say all the passengers are safe.
However, the Taipei Times reported that 19 Chinese tourists, a tour guide and a driver are missing after their bus tumbled 100 meters down a ravine. The Times says difficult terrain and intense weather conditions are hampering rescue efforts.
In the town of Suao, seven people were killed when a mudslide buried a temple. Rescue workers were using bulldozers to try to dig out two other people.
Elsewhere in the region, Typhoon Megi`s outer rain bands caused flooding and killed at least two people on a southern Japanese island.
Megi swept across the northern Philippines earlier this week as a "super" typhoon with winds of 225 kilometers an hour, killing at least 26 people and destroying homes and rice crops.
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