Southern regions reel from Hagupit

GUANGZHOU: At least 13 people were killed and nine left missing after Typhoon Hagupit lashed through the country's southern region on Wednesday, authorities said.

More than 11.5 million people in Guangdong, Hainan and Guangxi provinces were affected by the disaster, with direct economic losses reaching 13.46 billion yuan ($1.97 billion), Ministry of Civil Affairs figures showed.

Hagupit, the strongest typhoon to hit Guangdong and its Pearl River Delta region in 12 years, reportedly headed south toward Vietnam on Thursday.