Typhoon Rammasun toll 17 in China

The number of people killed by typhoon Rammasun in China has risen to 17, officials said Sunday.

Rammasun, the strongest typhoon to hit south China in four decades, brought heavy downpour and strong winds to southern provinces, Xinhua reported.

Two people are still missing, the officials said.

The latest statistics showed that more than 5.57 million people were affected by Rammasun as it swept dozens of southern coastal cities in Guangdong and Hainan provinces, and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

Eight people, including two government officials, have been confirmed dead in Hainan, while nine others are from Guangxi.

The typhoon has damaged power and water supplies, telecommunications networks, ports and roads, and made rescue work more difficult.

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

The typhoon destroyed about 51,000 houses and 40,600 hectares of crops, causing economic losses of over 10.8 billion yuan ($1.74 billion).

Guangxi, which is still under the spell of the typhoon, has reported a direct economic loss of 1.63 billion yuan ($261.63 million).

Rammasun, which first made landfall in eastern province of Albay in the Philippines Tuesday has claimed at least 94 lives with six still missing in that country.