50 people dead in typhoon in S. Korea

　　SEOUL, Sept. 13 (Xinhuanet) -- Some 50 South Korean people were dead and 25 others missing when the typhoon "Maemi" hit the country from Friday night to Saturday morning, according to the Central Anti-Disaster Headquarters.

　　The typhoon also caused serious disruptions in land, rail and air traffic and made 1.4 million homes powerless. The casualty toll and property damage could rise, the headquarters said.

　　But communications with remote and isolated areas are being restored.

　　Weather officials estimated Maemi's wind speed at 216 kilometers per hour, which they said was powerful enough to overturn vehicles and ships.

　　The storm began to hit the south coast late Friday night and swept across the southern part of South Korea before weakened to storm into the Sea of Japan early Saturday. It dumped as much as 453 millimeters of rain over the affected areas, according to weather officials.

　　Thousands of people were forced to evacuate to higher elevations or take shelter at schools and public facilities. Military helicopters were used to rescue stranded people and transport emergency supplies.

　　One of the hardest hit regions was Busan, the nation's largest port, and its surrounding South Gyeongsang province where at least18 people were killed and 16 others missing.

　　In Masan city, about 400 kilometers southeast to Seoul, workers tried to rescue about 10 people believed trapped inside a submerged shopping center.

　　Most victims were buried in landslides or washed away in flash floods.

　　About 68 percent of the 1.43 million homes that spent a powerless Friday night regained electricity by afternoon Saturday,said the state-run Korea Electric Power Corp.

　　Air services as well as major highways transportation resumed late Saturday.

　　About 20 major industrial plants in Ulsan and Onsan on the southeast coast, including two major oil refineries, were forced to temporarily halt operations. Five nuclear power plants on the nation's southeast coast were forced to halt operations after their power transmission lines were cut by the typhoon.

　　The Yonhap News Agency said that South Korean Prime Minister Goh Kun on Saturday convened a meeting of related high-ranking officials, at which he instructed them to come up with measures torepair damage. Affected municipalities and the Army have mobilizedequipment and personnel for rescue and repair operations. Enditem