Storm deaths

THE death toll from Tropical Storm Prapiroon jumped to 57, with 16 more people missing, after the storm knocked down houses and set off landslides and flash floods in China, news reports said yesterday.

Hardest hit was Guangdong province, where 38 people have been killed since Prapiroon roared ashore on Thursday. In neighbouring Guangxi, 19 people were killed, including six farm workers whose shelter was swept away by a flash flood in the city of Laibin, the official Xinhua News Agency said.

Elsewhere, a woman died after being hit by a billboard knocked down by high winds.