12 dead as typhoon floods Macau, southern China

12 dead as typhoon floods Macau, southern China

A man takes pictures facing into a gale brought typhoon Hato at a housing area in Hong Kong on Wednesday.Typhoon Hato forced offices and schools to close, floodd streets and shattered windows, causing cancellation of hundreds of flights. (Apple Daily via AP)
A man takes pictures facing into a gale brought typhoon Hato at a housing area in Hong Kong on Wednesday.Typhoon Hato forced offices and schools to close, floodd streets and shattered windows, causing cancellation of hundreds of flights. (Apple Daily via AP)

BEIJING - The most powerful typhoon to hit southern China in more than half a century has killed at least 12 people, with the sudden deluge swamping the gambling hub of Macau, submerging streets and stranding residents.

Typhoon Hato roared through with winds of up to 160 kilometres per hour.

Eight people were killed in Macau, including two men found overnight in a parking garage.

Another 153 were injured amid extensive flooding, power outages, and the smashing of doors and windows by gale-force winds and driving rain.

Xinhua News Agency said four more people were killed in the neighbouring province of Guangdong and one other is missing.

"People were just swimming, they cried for help. There were no boats. The water came so suddenly,'' Macau lawmaker Jose Pereira Coutinho said.

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