ATTENTION -toll, INSERTS details of damage ///
Typhoon Prapiroon killed at least 18 people and left up to seven others missing after crashing ashore in southern China, pounding the area with torrential rains and gale force winds Friday.
More than six million people were affected by the sixth typhoon to ravage China this year, with 534,000 evacuated in the southern provinces and regions of Guangdong, Guangxi and Hunan, China Central Television said, citing reports from the civil affairs ministry.
Although it was downgraded to a tropical storm early Friday, Prapiroon was held responsible for the collapse of 8,100 buildings with initial economic losses set at 2.5 billion yuan (312 million dollars), the ministry said.
State television footage showed people rushing for shelter, as rains lashed city streets and huge waves slammed into the Guangdong provincial coastline.
The fatalities were reported in different cities in Guangdong as relentless rains and gusting winds battered coastal cities in the south of the province, television reports said.
Xinhua news agency, quoting the State Flood Control and Drought Relief headquarters, said some died fleeing collapsing houses.
At least one person perished in a landslide in the neighboring Guangxi region, where the typhoon disrupted the lives of up to one million residents, Xinhua said.
The typhoon, which packed winds of up to 70 kilometres an hour (44 mph), moved inland in a northwest direction after making landfall near Yangjiang city in Guangdong late Thursday, reaching the Guangxi region early Friday.
In Hong Kong, more than 2,000 trees were uprooted or damaged while 20 cargo containers were tipped over at the city's massive shipping terminal on Thursday.
Despite the storm being well clear of Hong Kong Friday, thousands of exhausted and angry passengers remained stranded at the airport after hundreds of flights were delayed or cancelled.
The China Meteorological Administration forecast more wild weather on Saturday across the coastal regions of Guangdong and Guangxi as well as Fujian, Jiangxi, Hunan and Hainan provinces.
Prapiroon was the sixth typhoon of the season for southern China. The first, Typhoon Chanchu, hit on May 18, more than a month earlier than usual.
The worst was Bilis, which struck on July 14 and hovered over southern China for 10 days, killing at least 612 people, according to earlier state reports.
More than 1,400 people have been killed in China due to typhoons this season, according to the Red Cross, which this week appealed for 3.8 million euros (five million dollars) to help survivors.
