Topan Gaemi Sinks Goods Ship Off Taiwan Beach To Kill 2 People, Now Heading To China

JAKARTA - Topan Gaemi hit northern Taiwan, killing two people, triggering flooding and sinking off the coast before crossing the sea.

Typhoon Gaemi is now heading to China where it is expected to cause more heavy rain.

Gaemi hit Taiwan's northeastern coast in the Yilan region, Wednesday, July 24 at midnight. This is the strongest typhoon to hit the island in eight years and brought gusts of wind up to 227 kilometers per hour (141 mph) before weakening, according to the Central Weather Agency.

Reported by Reuters, at 12.15 local time, Gaemi was in the Taiwan Strait and headed for Fuzhou in China's Fujian province.

The storm cut off electricity to about half a million households in Taiwan, although most of them are now back in touch, the Taipower utility company said.

The Taiwanese fire department said the Tanzanian-flagged cargo ship with nine Myanmar nationals in it had sunk off the coast of the southern port city of Kaohsiung and there had been no response from the crew. Search efforts are ongoing, he added.

The Typhoon is expected to bring more rain across Taiwan, so offices and schools as well as financial markets are closed for the second day on Thursday.

The train will be halted until 15.00, Thursday, July 25, with all domestic flights and 195 international flights canceled that day.

High-speed trains connecting northern and southern Taiwan will reopen at 14.00 local time.

Two people were killed and 266 injured as a result of the typhoon, the government said.

Taiwan television station broadcast images of flooded streets in cities and regencies across the island.