The victims either drowned, were crushed in landslides or died in other accidents as the typhoon lashed South Korea with heavy rains and winds which reached record speeds.

Some 2,000 people were evacuated in the southern province of Gyeongsang, the eastern province Gangweon and the southern island of Jeju, and some 1.34 million households in Gyeongsang lost power, emergency officials said.

Eleven giant cranes were toppled in the port city of Busan and a train was derailed by a landslide in the central province of North Chungcheong early on Saturday, injuring 28.

A Busan firefighter was killed when his firetruck was crushed by a falling construction crane. Elsewhere in the city, a man died when he was blown from his roof terrace.

Two others were electrocuted in separate incidents in Busan when power lines were snapped by gusting winds.

In Jeju, a sailor died after his leg was severed by a rope as he was trying to moor his barge.

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

TERRA.WIRE