Tourists evacuated as typhoon Matmo approaches

A total of 1,477 tourists on an island in east China's Zhejiang province were evacuated as typhoon Matmo approached, officials said Wednesday.

The tourists on Nanji Island boarded 14 additional flights and left the island Tuesday, Xinhua reported.

Nanji Island is a popular tourist destination in Wenzhou City of Zhejiang. All flights to and from the island have been suspended due to the approaching typhoon.

Typhoon Matmo, the 10th typhoon affecting China this year, hit Taiwan late Tuesday night and is expected to make landfall in Fujian province Wednesday.

Meanwhile, typhoon Rammasun, the strongest typhoon to hit China in four decades, has claimed 56 lives with 20 people still missing.

Rammasun has affected more than 11 million people in the southern coastal provinces of Hainan, Guangdong, Yunnan and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

Hainan, where Rammasun made its first landfall Friday afternoon, suffered the worst damage.