Typhoon Meranti in China's Fujian Province kills seven

Typhoon Meranti has left seven people dead and another nine missing in eastern China's Fujian Province.

Meranti said to be the largest typhoon this year, made landfall in Xiamen at 3:05 a.m. local times yesterday with a maximum 15-grade wind force bringing extraordinary rainstorms, reports Xinhua.

Earlier in the day, typhoon Meranti forced 331,000 people in Fujian to relocate and destroyed 1,600 houses, damaged 22,200 hectares of crops and inflicted direct economic losses of 249 million USD.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Civil Affairs and the National Commission for Disaster Reduction is said to have dispatched work teams to assess the damage and help with rescue work.

Reports suggest that Fujian provincial government has so far allocated 60 million yuan in living relief for those affected.