A powerful typhoon hit southern areas of South Korea overnight, killing at least 42 people and forcing thousands to flee, authorities said on yesterday. Some reports put the death toll at more than 100.
Typhoon Maemi ("cicada" in Korean), packing winds of up to 216kph -- a record for South Korea -- whipped across eastern and southern parts of the peninsula, leaving a swathe of destruction before turning back to sea early yesterday.
A government statement said the death toll yesterday afternoon had risen to 42 with 24 people missing. YTN television put the toll at 103.
PHOTO: REUTERS
YTN said rescue workers were trying to reach 10 people trapped in the basement of a collapsed shopping center in the southern city of Masan.
Authorities issued flood warnings for towns and cities along the Nakdong river, which flows through the center and south of the country, as dams opened their flood gates after the area was hit by up to 453mm of rain. About 2,000 people had to be evacuated from their homes.
The typhoon forced four power plants to stop operations, cutting power to 1.4 million households, as the country celebrated the three-day Chusok (Thanksgiving) festival.
"Damage and losses are expected to increase further, as more reports are registered with the center," an official at the National Disaster Prevention Headquarters said.
Prime Minister Goh Kun chaired an emergency cabinet meeting to discuss rescue measures such as declaring a disaster zone and providing financial support.
The typhoon, which sank 18 vessels and broke 13 container cranes at ports, has caused seven billion won (US$6 million) worth of damage so far, according to official estimates.
The worst affected area was South Kyeongsang province where at least 15 people drowned and roads were swept away.
South Korea's Hyundai Heavy Industries Co, the world's largest shipbuilder, said the typhoon had damaged two vessels being built for the oil industry.
The incident involved a 200,000-tonne offshore storage facility being built for Exxon Mobile Corp, and a 37,000-tonne petrochemicals carrier being built by Hyundai Mipo Dockyard for a German company.
In central Chungchong province, a landslide caused a Seoul-bound Saemaeul Express train to derail, injuring 28 people, local television said.
Typhoon Maemi later moved out over the Sea of Japan, where it weakened considerably, the meteorology department said. The country's capital city, Seoul in the northwest of the country, was unaffected by the storm.
South Korea is often hit by typhoons at this time of year. Last September, Typhoon Rusa killed more than 100 people.
A fire caused by a burst gas pipe yesterday spread to several homes and sent a fireball soaring into the sky outside Malaysia’s largest city, injuring more than 100 people. The towering inferno near a gas station in Putra Heights outside Kuala Lumpur was visible for kilometers and lasted for several hours. It happened during a public holiday as Muslims, who are the majority in Malaysia, celebrate the second day of Eid al-Fitr. National oil company Petronas said the fire started at one of its gas pipelines at 8:10am and the affected pipeline was later isolated. Disaster management officials said shutting the
DITCH TACTICS: Kenyan officers were on their way to rescue Haitian police stuck in a ditch suspected to have been deliberately dug by Haitian gang members A Kenyan policeman deployed in Haiti has gone missing after violent gangs attacked a group of officers on a rescue mission, a UN-backed multinational security mission said in a statement yesterday. The Kenyan officers on Tuesday were on their way to rescue Haitian police stuck in a ditch “suspected to have been deliberately dug by gangs,” the statement said, adding that “specialized teams have been deployed” to search for the missing officer. Local media outlets in Haiti reported that the officer had been killed and videos of a lifeless man clothed in Kenyan uniform were shared on social media. Gang violence has left
US Vice President J.D. Vance on Friday accused Denmark of not having done enough to protect Greenland, when he visited the strategically placed and resource-rich Danish territory coveted by US President Donald Trump. Vance made his comment during a trip to the Pituffik Space Base in northwestern Greenland, a visit viewed by Copenhagen and Nuuk as a provocation. “Our message to Denmark is very simple: You have not done a good job by the people of Greenland,” Vance told a news conference. “You have under-invested in the people of Greenland, and you have under-invested in the security architecture of this
Japan unveiled a plan on Thursday to evacuate around 120,000 residents and tourists from its southern islets near Taiwan within six days in the event of an “emergency”. The plan was put together as “the security situation surrounding our nation grows severe” and with an “emergency” in mind, the government’s crisis management office said. Exactly what that emergency might be was left unspecified in the plan but it envisages the evacuation of around 120,000 people in five Japanese islets close to Taiwan. China claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has stepped up military pressure in recent years, including