Typhoon Washes Away 59 Soldiers

[David]

AP


China said 59 of its soldiers were washed away by raging floodwaters sparked by Typhoon Longwang, and the country's president called for an all-out search, state media reported Tuesday.

The typhoon slammed into China's southeast coast late Sunday night. It was downgraded Monday afternoon to a tropical storm, but not before raining havoc on low-lying coastal areas.

The 59 soldiers, members of the China's paramilitary armed police in charge of domestic security, were in a training school barracks in Fujian province when the violent floods hit Monday night, state media said.

Two buildings at the school were washed away, the reports said.

President Hu Jintao ordered that no efforts be spared to search for them, state newspapers reported.

If they are confirmed dead, it would dramatically raise China's official death toll from Typhoon Longwang, which stands at three.

The typhoon also killed at least one person on the island of Taiwan before hitting mainland China.

Chinese authorities had evacuated more than 500,000 people from coastal areas ahead of the storm, forcing boats to return to harbor and closing tourist sites.

As the storm churned inland, it destroyed 5,400 homes in Fujian and wiped out 12,500 hectares of crops, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.

Flash floods triggered a landslide that claimed the three people already confirmed dead, it said.

State television showed trees bending under huge gusts of wind and cars driving slowly through flooded roads. It said some railway services had been suspended in hard-hit Fujian after heavy rain had washed away some track foundations.

It was still raining in parts of Fujian on Tuesday, though the winds had died down, the local weather bureau said.

China has suffered numerous heavy storms this year. In September alone, typhoons Talim, Khanun and Damrey killed more than 130 people across the southern part of the country.

Longwang means "Dragon King" in Chinese.