Typhoon leaves 16 dead in China

MACAU: The death toll from Severe Typhoon Hato rose to at least 16 on Thursday after the storm left a trail of destruction across southern China, blacking out Macau’s mega-casinos and battering Hong Kong’s skyscrapers.

Eight died in the gambling hub of Macau, where images showed cars underwater and people swimming along streets. The enclave’s famed mega-casinos were running on backup generators.

A man was killed by a wall that was blown down, another fell from a fourth-floor terrace and one was hit by a truck. The Macau government said two bodies were found in a flooded car park early on Thursday, and that two more died when they were trapped in the basement of their shop. Details of the remaining death was not immediately available.

Footage published Thursday on the website of Apple Daily showed water gushing into an underground car park, with people wading through neck-deep water littered with debris as one man shouted in panic. It was not clear if it was the same car park where the bodies had been found.

"I have never seen Macau like this since I came here in the 70s," a taxi driver aged in his 50s who gave his name as Lao told AFP. "It’s like they were trying to gamble with their luck," Lao said adding that authorities had reacted too slowly and did too little to alert residents of the coming storm.

Blacked-out slot machines were seen at the largely empty Wynn Macau casino where there was no air conditioning and a musty atmosphere. However, a few dozen gamblers ignored the heat and tried their luck at four baccarat tables.

A staff member at the enclave’s sprawling Venetian resort said Thursday its casino and shops were open, but there was no air conditioning. A source had said on Wednesday that the complex was running on back-up power. —