Special report: Typhoon Chanchu lands in China

    FUZHOU, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Eleven people are confirmed dead and four others are missing after Typhoon Chanchu made landfall in southeastern China's coastal areas Thursday, according to the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters and the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

Villagers struggle their way on a flooded street after rainstorm in Xibei Village of Longhai City, south China's Fujian Province, May 18, 2006. Typhoon "Chanchu", the first strong typhoon hitting south China this year, landed in Guangdong Province early May 18 and brought rainstorm. (Xinhua)

    A landslide smashed into two houses and claimed the lives of at least eight villagers in Fujian Province, four others are missing.

    Three others, including two children, in neighboring Guangdong Province died early Thursday morning when their houses collapsed, injuring two elder people, the provincial flood-control office said.

    Five other people were killed in a traffic accident, reported the Guangdong Provincial Flood-Control Office.

    Meanwhile there are unconfirmed reports that 27 Vietnamese fishermen, sailing in Chinese waters, have gone missing in the storm.

    The typhoon slammed in Shantou City of Guangdong at 2:15 a.m. Thursday and continued northward along the coastal areas of neighboring Fujian, bringing gale-force winds and rainstorms to the regions and triggering flooding, mountain torrents and landslides.

    Nearly 200 houses in north Shantou were flooded stranding more than 6,400 people Thursday morning.

    More than 3.15 million residents of Fujian and over 154,000 hectares of cropland have been affected by the typhoon, incurring a loss of 3.8 billion yuan (475 million U.S. dollars).

    Some 1.03 million people have been safely relocated in the two typhoon-hit provinces by Thursday afternoon, and evacuation of areas likely to be affected by the powerful storm continued.

    Chanchu, the strongest tropical storm ever recorded in month of May, is moving northeast and is expected to pass through the middle and southern areas of Zhejiang Province before arriving in the East China Sea on Thursday evening, the Zhejiang Provincial Observatory forecast earlier the day.

    Chanchu, which means "pearl", formed in the Pacific, about 550 km east of Mindanao island in the Philippines on May 9. It hit central Philippines on Saturday, killing at least 32 people and affecting thousands of others. Enditem

A house is flooded after rainstorm, in Xibei Village of Longhai City, south China's Fujian Province, May 18, 2006. Typhoon "Chanchu", the first strong typhoon hitting south China this year, landed in Guangdong Province early May 18 and brought rainstorm. (Xinhua)