Eleven people were killed when a mudslide hit a house in south-eastern China on Sunday as heavy rain from what remained of a tropical storm drenched the region, state media said.
Elsewhere in China, a delivery person on a scooter died when they were hit by a falling tree in Shanghai on Saturday, apparently because of storm-related winds, according to The Paper, a digital news outlet.
The deaths were the first in China that appear linked to Typhoon Gaemi, which weakened to a tropical storm after making landfall on Thursday.
Before reaching China, the typhoon intensified monsoon rains in the Philippines, leaving at least 34 dead, and swept across the island of Taiwan, where the death toll has risen to 10, authorities said late on Saturday.
The mudslide struck the house in Yuelin village, which falls under the jurisdiction of Hengyang city in Hunan province, at about 8am on Sunday, state broadcaster CCTV said in a series of online reports.
Vehicles drive through floodwater in Shenyang in north-eastern China’s Liaoning province (Wang Hongtao/Xinhua News Agency/AP)
An earlier report said 18 people were trapped by the mudslide, and that six injured people had been rescued.
It was not clear in the latest report if one other person remained missing. The reports did not say who was staying in the house, which was was rented for temporary stays.
There was no information on whether the injuries were serious.
The reports said the mudslide was triggered by water rushing down the mountains from heavy rains. They did not mention Gaemi but the China Meteorological Administration said rain linked to the tropical storm hit south-eastern parts of Hunan province on Saturday.
In Shanghai, a photo posted by The Paper showed a delivery scooter on its side mostly covered by leafy branches near the still-standing barren trunk of a tree. It said winds from the storm were the suspected cause, and that the investigation is continuing.
The wide arc of the tropical storm was also bringing heavy rain to Liaoning province in north-eastern China, about 1,200 miles (2,000km) away.
Hundreds of chemical and mining companies suspended operations from Saturday as a precautionary measure and more than 30,000 people had been evacuated, the official Xinhua News Agency said.
Nearly 40 trains were suspended until Thursday for safety reasons after steady rain in recent days created hazards and damaged tracks.
Huge waves lash the shore ahead of landfall by Typhoon Gaemi in Sansha Township in Xiapu County, in south-east China’s Fujian Province on Thursday (Jiang Kehong/Xinhua News Agency/AP)
Two more people were reported dead in Taiwan, raising the death toll to 10, the island’s Central News Agency said, quoting the emergency operation centre. Two others were missing, and 895 people were injured.
The latest victims were a man found in a drainage ditch and another man who died in a car accident.
More than 800 people remained in shelters in Taiwan as of Saturday night, and more than 5,000 households were without power.
The typhoon caused nearly 1.7 billion new Taiwan dollars (£40.2 million) damage to crops, including bananas, guavas and pears, chicken and other livestock farming, and oyster and other fisheries, the Central News Agency said, citing figures from the Ministry of Agriculture.