Four killed by Typhoon in Japan

At least four people were killed and 30 more injured today when a powerful typhoon hit southern Japan.

Torrential rains and strong wind toppled trees and telephone poles and forced a Vietnamese cargo ship carrying 20 crew to run aground.

Typhoon Chaba, one of the year’s strongest storms, headed north with winds up to 89mph.

It has left 123 homes flooded and another 342,000 households without power throughout Japan’s southernmost main island of Kyushu, about 560 miles south west of Tokyo.

A 71-year-old man trying to fix a storage roof died after he was blown 9ft to the ground by strong winds.

An 82-year-old man attempting to saw a branch off a tree died when a gust of wind whisked him off his ladder.

A 51-year-old woman in Kagawa also died as she tried to fix her roof and a man was found drowned in a Kagoshima river.

The National Police Agency said 30 others were injured, including two civil servants hurt when winds shattered office windows at Naze city hall on Amami Oshima island. Two people were missing.

Winds also blew the roof off one house and burst windows and tore apart shutters of about 20 other homes and office buildings in the city.

Television footage showed fishing boats turned on their sides as huge waves crashed into embankments and rice paddies partially submerged in water.

A Vietnamese cargo ship called for help after running aground near Uwajima in Ehime. The 5,552-ton Vihan05 was carrying a crew of 20, all Vietnamese nationals.

Waves 33ft high and 45mph winds were recorded in the area where the vessel was stranded.

The risk of landslides in parts of Kyushu was at its highest in several years and 17,000 people evacuated their homes.

Airlines were forced to call off at least 541 flights, mostly on domestic routes.

Railway companies also had to cancel and delay trains.

The Meteorological Agency warned of dangerous waves and the highest tides of the year along the Pacific and Sea of Japan coastlines.

Chaba means hibiscus in Thai.