China's typhoon death toll rises to 50

Typhoon Longwang killed at least 50 people in China with dozens still missing today, including 59 members of a paramilitary police brigade swept away by raging floodwaters.

The typhoon slammed into south-eastern China late on Sunday with winds of 74 mph. It was downgraded Monday to a tropical storm, but not before raining havoc on low-lying coastal areas.

The missing paramilitary officers, members of China’s armed force in charge of domestic security, were in a training school barracks in Fujian province when violent floods washed them away and destroyed two buildings Sunday night, state media said.

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

Emergency workers had retrieved 50 bodies in Fujian, China Central Television reported.

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 harbour and closing tourist sites.

As the storm churned inland, it destroyed 5,400 homes in Fujian and wiped out 31,000 acres of crops, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.

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 raining lightly in parts of Fujian today, and top wind speeds had slowed to 45 mph, 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.