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BEIJING - A typhoon killed at least 36 people as it swept across southeast China, destroying crops and battering homes, Xinhua news agency said.
Typhoon Sepat, which hit at the weekend and was expected to linger as a tropical depression through today, caused losses of nearly 5 billion yuan ($959 million) in the provinces of Fujian, Jiangxi, Zhejiang and Hunan, Xinhua quoted the Ministry of Civil Affairs and local meteorologists as saying.
Landslides caused at least half the deaths. A tornado spun off the storm in Zhejiang's manufacturing hub of Wenzhou, which produces everything from shoes to cigarette lighters, killing several people.
Disaster officials in the Philippines said three people drowned in flooding caused by Sepat and parts of the capital and surrounding provinces remained under water.
Taiwan's disaster centre said one person had died and several had been injured in the typhoon. About 2500 people were evacuated and nearly 9000 homes were still without electricity.
- Reuters
