Two die, houses ravaged as havoc spreads inland

Two people died and hundreds of homes were damaged as Utor hit land near Shantou in Guangdong yesterday.

Zeng Weiquan, 31, an employee of the flood control office in Chenghai, southeast of Shantou, was killed early yesterday morning when he fell from a slope near the seashore.

A 37-year-old saleswoman in Shantou died when an appliance in her shop short-circuited because of flooding and electrocuted her.

'More than 1.88 million people in Shantou were affected by Typhoon Utor. About 120 houses collapsed and another 540 were damaged,' said Wu Yi, a Shantou government spokesman.

Guangxi's capital Nanning was on high alert yesterday as the city was threatened by serious flooding caused by Utor.

About 100,000 local residents, cadres, soldiers and policemen were mobilised to keep round-the-clock watch over the Yongjiang River. Xinhua said the river's height has surpassed safety levels and the city could be flooded if rain continued.