Typhoon Maemi, which swept through the southeastern part of South Korea after buffeting southern Japanese islands, brought heavy rains and 216 kilometer- (135-mile)-an-hour winds, a record in South Korea.

When it howled into the southern port of Busan, the winds were so strong that they toppled several giant cranes weighing between 835-985 tonnes each at two container ports there, KBS television said.

A firefighter lost his leg when a construction crane collapsed on a fire truck in a separate place in Busan, the state-owned television network said.

A 50-year-old man died after he was blown off the terrace of his Busan house and smashed his head on the ground. Two others were electrocuted in separate incidents in Busan when power lines were snapped by gusting winds.

The typhoon brought floods, landslides and power blackouts, forcing some 2,000 people to evacuate in the eastern and southeastern provinces of Gangweon and Gyeongsang and the southern island of Jeju.

Some 1.34 million households in southern Gyeongsang Province suffered from power failure, the Central Anti-Disaster Headquarters said.

The death toll and damage from the typhoon were likely to rise further as more reports came in, it said.

Typhoon Maemi, meaning cicada in Korean, swept through the east coast and off into the East Sea (Sea of Japan) early Saturday. It weakened to a tropical storm, weather authorities said.

TERRA.WIRE