13 dead, 20 still missing in China after typhoon landslides

BEIJING – Thirteen people have been confirmed dead in two landslides after a major typhoon lashed southeastern China, with the prospect of the toll rising further as rescue crews continued Saturday to search for 20 missing people.

The landslides Wednesday in Zhejiang province, south of the financial hub of Shanghai, followed Typhoon Megi, which brought heavy rains and high winds to China and Taiwan this past week.

Eight people were confirmed dead in Sucun village, according to a government statement published Saturday. Video published by the official Xinhua News Agency shows fast flood waters carrying rocks and debris down a mountain and into the adjacent hamlet, destroying homes and sending people fleeing.

The statement says 19 people are still missing three days later.

The second landslide in Wencheng county killed five people, with one person still missing, an official at the county’s flood control office said Saturday.

A photo published Friday afternoon by the official China News Service shows People’s Liberation Army soldiers using picks to dig through mud, rocks and fallen trees.

In Taiwan, five people died in falls and other accidents during the storm, and the bodies of three people were discovered in a home swamped by a landslide in southern Kaohsiung county.