Storm’s Death Toll Reaches 67 in Asia

A powerful typhoon that pummeled southern China on Thursday killed at least 23 people, and 22 Vietnamese fishermen were missing after their boats sank in Chinese waters.

Chanchu, which was downgraded to a tropical storm, has killed at least 67 people in the region, including 37 last weekend in the Philippines, where it destroyed thousands of homes.

The government today that 15 people were killed in flooding and landslides in the southeastern province of Fujian. Eight people perished in neighboring Guangdong province.

By early today, the dramatically weakened storm had moved into the East China Sea.

The storm hit the Chinese coast early Thursday, flooding scores of homes and forcing the evacuation of 1 million people.

Officials in Vietnam said they found a missing fisherman alive and the bodies of four others, while the search for 22 continued. Eleven Vietnamese boats and more than 90 workers had been caught in the typhoon. Fisherman aboard boats that safely reached an island said four of the boats sank.

Taiwan reported the deaths of two women swept away by floods in the southern region of Pingtung on Wednesday.

In southern Japan, high waves swept away three 17-year-old male students swimming off Hateruma island. One was rescued, one was missing and one was dead.

China said it had moved more than 1 million people to safety in Guangdong and Fujian. The storm bypassed Hong Kong.