A TYPHOON SLAMMED INTO SOUTH CHINA ON THURSDAY, KILLING 11 PEOPLE AND FORCING THE EVACUATION OF MORE THAN ONE MILLION, XINHUA NEWS AGENCY SAID, WHILE VIETNAM WAS STILL SEARCHING FOR 35 FISHERMEN MISSING AT SEA, REUTERS REPORTED. TYPHOON CHANCHU, WHICH BROUGHT HEAVY RAIN AND WINDS UP TO 170 KM PER HOUR (106 MILES PER HOUR), MADE LANDFALL BETWEEN THE CITIES OF SHANTOU AND XIAMEN IN THE EARLY MORNING, THE HONG KONG OBSERVATORY SAID. CHINA'S COASTAL PROVINCES OF GUANGDONG AND FUJIAN TOOK THE FULL BRUNT OF THE STORM. ELEVEN CHINESE HAD DIED BY THURSDAY AFTERNOON AND ANOTHER FOUR HAD GONE MISSING, XINHUA SAID, QUOTING THE MINISTRY OF CIVIL AFFAIRS. IT HAD SAID EARLIER THAT EIGHT PEOPLE, INCLUDING TWO CHILDREN, WERE KILLED IN GUANGDONG'S SHANTOU CITY, WHERE CHANCHU -- THE STRONGEST TYPHOON ON RECORD TO ENTER THE SOUTH CHINA SEA IN THE MONTH OF MAY -- TRIGGERED HOUSE COLLAPSES AND LANDSLIDES. ALMOST ALL ROADS IN SHANTOU WERE FLOODED AND THERE WERE SEVERAL BLACKOUTS, XINHUA SAID, ADDING THAT DOWNPOURS IN FUJIAN HAD LED TO FLOODING IN A NUMBER OF RIVERS. AIR LINKS, CLOSED ON WEDNESDAY, WERE RESUMED AND LIFE WAS RETURNING TO NORMAL IN SHANTOU LATER ON THURSDAY AS THE GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS STARTED TO TOTE UP ECONOMIC LOSSES, IT SAID. STATE TELEVISION NEWS SAID CHANCHU HAD BEEN DOWNGRADED TO A TROPICAL DEPRESSION AND WAS HEADING NORTHEAST AT A SPEED OF 35 KM (22 MILES) PER HOUR, BUT IT WOULD STILL BRING STRONG RAINFALL TO CHINA'S EASTERN PROVINCES, INCLUDING ITS FINANCIAL HUB, SHANGHAI.
