Death toll in China from Typhoon Mujigae rises to 19, state media says

The death toll from a typhoon that struck China on the weekend has risen to 19, with four people missing, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Wednesday.

Seven people were killed in typhoon-triggered tornados in the southern province of Guangdong while seven died in landslides, Xinhua said citing the provincial civil affairs department.

Three fishermen died in boat accidents at sea while one person was found dead in the debris of a house that collapsed during the storm. Four fishermen were missing, Xinhua said.

The storm made landfall in Zhanjiang prefecture in the southwest of Guangdong province on Sunday, triggering widespread blackouts.

For most of its passage across the South China Sea after crossing the Philippines, Mujigae was a tropical storm then low-level typhoon. As it approached land, however, Mujigae intensified to a category 2 cyclone with sustained winds of 154-177 km/h on the international Saffir-Simpson wind scale, then jumped to Category 4 – with winds up to 298km/h capable of causing catastrophic damage – as it crossed land. The highest category on the scale is 5, or “super typhoon”.