Typhoon death toll at 39 after hitting China

Manila, July 15: The death toll from Typhoon Bilis rose to 39 today after its sweep through the Philippines, Taiwan and then China, where it was downgraded to a tropical storm.

The number of dead was put at 28 in the Philippines, where more bodies were today found in swollen rivers and creeks and dug from dozens of minor landslides, disaster officials said.

In China's southeastern province of Fujian, 10 people were killed and 27 injured when a bus rammed into a guardrail and slid into a valley, the Xinhua news agency late last night. Police said heavy rains associated with Bilis contributed to the accident.

More than 250,000 Chinese people in the typhoon's path were evacuated before it wreaked more than 100 million dollars of damage and toppled hundreds of houses in Fujian and Zhejiang province further up the east coast.

The storm also caused one death in Taiwan's Pingtung county, at the Southern end of the island.

Manila's National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) said nine people were still missing after mudslides and floods on the main Luzon island.

''We're still feeling the effects of the southwest monsoon,'' said Glenn Rabonza, NDCC executive director.

''We continue to get reports from the field on casualties and damages as the weather improves. Many communities in the north remained isolated by landslides and floods.'' The disaster agency said about 3 million dollars worth of agriculture -- including rice, corn, coconut and vegetables --, public infrastructures and houses were destroyed or damaged in three days of rains since Wednesday.

The capital, Manila, was still cloudy today with strong wind gusts as hundreds of people displaced by flooding started returning to their homes.

About 20 typhoons hit the Philippines each year, mostly during the rainy season that lasts from mid-May until September.

Reuters