NANJING, Sept 19, 2007 (Xinhua via COMTEX) -- The number of fatalities in east China resulting from the impact of typhoon Wipha has risen to five, and three others are missing, according to the Ministry of Civil Affairs.
The ministry said on Wednesday evening that the deaths were caused by landslides triggered by Wipha.
A total of 2.67 million people in Zhejiang, Fujian, Shanghai and Jiangsu had been relocated by 6:00 p.m. Wednesday.
The typhoon also destroyed more than 9,600 houses and damaged 42,000 others, and direct economic losses stand at 6.62 billion yuan, it said.
Typhoon Wipha, which has now been downgraded to a tropical storm, is moving northwestward at a speed of 20 km per hour but the wind speed at the eye of the storm has dropped to 72 km per hour.
Wipha is expected to enter Jiangsu Province in the early hours of Thursday and then pass to the Yellow Sea in the morning, the China Meteorological Administration said.