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9 killed as Japan hit by strongest typhoon in 25 years

9 killed as Japan hit by strongest typhoon in 25 years

Officials said two men in their 70s were killed, one when he fell from his roof in Osaka prefecture — and the other when a warehouse collapsed in Shiga prefecture, NHK public radio reported.

 

The storm, named Jebi after the Japanese word for “swallow,” in Korean, ripped through western Japan after evacuation advisories were issued to more than 1 million people.

 

Kansai International Airport, on an island in Osaka Bay, was shut down due to major flooding brought on by strong winds and high waves — which also led a tanker anchored in the bay to crash into an airport bridge, the Japan Coast Guard said.

All 11 crew members onboard the tanker were rescued and none was injured.

 

About 3,000 people were stranded at the airport.

 

Forecasters recorded wind gusts of up to 129 mph in one part of Shikoku, the smallest main island, and 135 mph elsewhere.

 

More than 700 flights in the region were canceled, some railway services halted and department stores in Osaka and Kyoto prefectures were closed Tuesday, along with tourist sites such as Nagoya Castle.

 

Japanese automaker Toyota announced it would suspend night operations at 14 of its plants across the country.

 

Jebi is the first typhoon categorized as “very strong” to make landfall in Japan since 1993, when a powerful storm killed 48 people.