Typhoon Matmo kills 13 in China

A health clinic worker disinfects a house in Jiujiang, East China's Jiangxi province?on July 26, 2014 after it was flooded by torrential rains brought by Typhoon Matmo. [Photo/Xinhua]

BEIJING - Typhoon Matmo has claimed 13 lives in China and affected about 2.5 million residents, the Ministry of Civil Affairs announced on Sunday.

Nine deaths were reported in east China's Jiangxi Province and four were reported in south China's Guangdong Province, the ministry said in a statement.

As of 9 a.m. on Sunday, more than 2.54 million people had been affected as the impact of the typhoon spreads to 185 counties in eight provinces including Liaoning, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, Fujian, Jiangxi, Shandong and Guangdong.

About 289,000 residents have been relocated and some 37,000 are in urgent need of basic living supplies, according to the statement.

Matmo, the 10th typhoon to affect China this year, has destroyed homes and crops and caused direct economic losses worth 3.37 billion yuan (about 547 million U.S. dollars), it said.

Matmo made landfall in southeast China's Fujian Province on Wednesday and has brought strong winds and heavy downpours to affected areas.

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