Typhoon Usagi hits southern China, killing at least 25

At least 25 people have died after Typhoon Usagi slammed into the coast of southern China, state media reported Monday.

Bringing strong winds and heavy rain, Usagi forced the relocation of hundreds of thousands of people, the cancellation of hundreds of flights and the closing of a major shipping lane.

"Usagi has devastated the eastern part of Guangdong," where it made landfall late Sunday, the state-run news agency Xinhua said.

The storm trashed construction sites, damaged hundreds of homes and cut off power and water, the news agency reported. Twenty-five people have so far been confirmed dead, it said.

At one point the most powerful storm so far this year, Usagi has menaced the region for days. It left at least two people dead and three others missing in the Philippines and at least nine people injured in Taiwan.

The typhoon weakened Sunday as it got nearer to the Chinese coast, but was still packing sustained winds of around 160 kilometers per hour (100 mph) when it hit land. By Monday afternoon, it had faded to become a tropical depression.

The densely populated financial center of Hong Kong, which had appeared to be in the storm's path before it began to track in a more northerly direction on Sunday, avoided the worst of its fury.

Seventeen people in the territory sought medical attention, eight of whom were admitted to hospitals, authorities said.