BEIJING: The strongest storm to hit southern China in more than 40 years has killed at least eight people there, state media said Saturday, after causing devastation in the Philippines.

Typhoon Rammasun was blamed for five deaths and 99 injuries after hitting Hainan island Friday off China’s southern coast, the Xinhua News Agency reported. Three people died later in the Guangxi region as the storm plowed into the mainland on its way north to Vietnam.

Xinhua said the storm is believed to be the strongest to hit the region in 41 years. Wind speeds reached 216 km per hour, with the storm knocking down power lines and damaging buildings, Xinhua said.

Authorities in southern China ordered the highest level of disaster alert and suspended hundreds of buses, trains and flights across the region.

The typhoon had wreaked havoc earlier in the week in the Philippines, leaving 77 people dead.

Television pictures showed roads littered with debris including uprooted trees and rooftops while dozens of flights and rail links were suspended.

Rammasun was downgraded from a super typhoon to a severe typhoon on Saturday, according to the Hong Kong Observatory.