Tropical storm kills 115 in China

Tropical storm Bilis killed at least 115 people and injured hundreds more as it churned across China’s south-east, toppling houses and forcing authorities to evacuate a prison and thousands of villagers, reports in Beijing said today.

Thousands more people were reported stranded after Bilis slammed into China’s coast on Friday and swept inland, wrecking houses and cutting off roads and power supplies.

Hardest-hit was the south-eastern coastal province of Fujian, with 43 people killed, while 39 were dead in the inland province of Hunan and 33 in crowded Guangdong, which borders Hong Kong in the south.

Report did not say how the deaths occurred.