BEIJING
Around 158,000 people have been evacuated as southeast China braces for a typhoon expected to disrupt air and train transportation.
State news agency Xinhua cited the flood control office of Fujian province as saying that Soudelor – the thirteenth typhoon to hit China this year – is forecast to make landfall Saturday night as it heads northwestward at more than 20 kilometers per hour.
Those evacuated – most of them aquatic farm workers -- have been moved to safe inland areas, and all fishing vessels had been ordered to return to harbor by Friday morning.
Marine police have already rescued 55 university students and teachers who had been stranded on a small island while attending summer camps in four-hour operation Friday afternoon. Ferry services to the islet had been halted due to strong winds.
Fishing boats and aquatic farm workers were also ordered to return to shore in the neighboring province of Guangdong, where seaside tourist destinations have temporarily closed.
While train and air services are expected to be disrupted due to Typhoon Soudelor, around 120 trains on routes to major cities in Fujian and Guangdong will be canceled over the weekend.
Soudelor left at least four people dead and one missing when it battered Taiwan earlier Saturday, the Central News Agency reported.
