Deadly typhoon claims three lives

TOKYO - Three people died in floods and landslides, two went missing and at least 40 were injured as a powerful typhoon moved in on the island of Kyushu yesterday.

Typhoon Shanshan was carrying winds of up to 160km/h near its centre, Japan's Meteorological Agency said.

Though weakening, the storm disrupted transport as it pounded many western areas of Japan with torrential rain. About 170 flights in and out of southwestern Japan were cancelled yesterday.

Shanshan is expected to fade into a tropical storm today and head into the Sea of Japan.

Three people died on Kyushu on Saturday due to landslides and flooding caused by the storm's heavy rain.

Police said they were searching for a 50-year-old firefighter and a 27-year-old newspaper reporter who went missing late on Saturday in Hiroshima.

Forty people were injured on the chain of islands that make up Japan's southernmost prefecture of Okinawa.

- REUTERS