Deadly Super Typhoon Yagi hits Vietnam

Asia’s most powerful storm this year made landfall in northern Vietnam on Saturday, the meteorological agency said, after tearing through China’s island of Hainan, where it reportedly killed another two and injured dozens more.

Super Typhoon Yagi hit island districts of north Vietnam around 1300 local time (0600 GMT), generating winds of up to 160kph (99mph) near its centre, having lost power from its peak of 234kph (145mph) in Hainan a day earlier.

A body was recovered near the coastal city of Halong, while a dozen people were missing at sea, state media reported on Saturday. Earlier in the day, a 53-year-old motorcyclist was killed after a tree fell on him in the northern Hai Duong province, according to the state media.

Yagi had already claimed the lives of at least 16 people in the Philippines, the first country it hit, having formed east of the archipelago earlier in the week.

Vietnam’s coastal city of Haiphong, an industrial hub with a population of 2 million people that hosts factories from foreign multinationals and local carmaker VinFast, was among the hardest hit by winds with speeds of up to 90kph.

As the typhoon approached, the city experienced power outages on Saturday, authorities said. The strong winds smashed windows in buildings and waves were as high as three meters when they hit the coast, according to journalists. Trees fell and metal roofing sheets flew away from buildings and parking lots, pictures and footages on local media showed.