Typhoon death toll rises

Eight people died in a mudslide

More than 25 people have been killed after two major storms tore through parts of East Asia.

A crew goes to the rescue in Tienliao

Typhoon Bilis left at least 11 people dead and 80 others injured in Taiwan after roaring across the island on Wednesday.

And in Vietnam, the authorities say 14 people have been killed by Tropical Storm Kaemi which struck on Tuesday.

Typhoon Bilis, whose eye measured 32km wide, generated gusts of up to 300km/h as it ripped through Taiwan.

Eight people died in the central county of Nantou when a landslide demolished a workers' hut in which they were sheltering.

The typhoon uprooted trees and triggered landslides

Elsewhere a woman was electrocuted by wires snapped in half by the typhoon, a man was crushed to death after a wall collapsed and another was killed when a door blew off its frame.

More than 600,000 homes lost power during the storm and tens of thousands were forced to seek refuge in typhoon shelters.

In Nantou, powerful winds lifted the roofs of 23 prefabricated homes built to house survivors of last September's devastating earthquake which killed 2,400 people.

"It seems as if Nantou has a share in every natural disaster," Vice-President Annette Lu said.

Late on Wednesday President Chen Shui-bian announced he was cutting short his African tour to take charge of relief efforts. He is expected to return to Taiwan on Friday.

'Super-typhoon'

The US National Hurricane Centre said it had recorded gusts as high as 320 km/h (200 mph), making Bilis a "super-typhoon" and the strongest storm to hit Asia this year.

The 600km wide typhoon, seen here on Monday, easily engulfed Taiwan

Flights were cancelled across the island and airport workers battled to lash down even the largest jets to prevent them being blown over.

The southern port of Kaohsiung, one of the busiest in the world, was closed to all shipping as huge waves pounded the sea walls.

Banks, financial markets, offices and schools also remained shut.

Reports said Bilis had also destroyed hundreds of hectares of farmland on the island, causing around $48m in agricultural damage.

Thousands evacuated

In eastern Hualien county, about 250 houses collapsed in strong winds, according to officials.

To add to the island's woes an earthquake of magnitude 5.7 also struck Hualien on Wednesday, but no immediate damage was reported.

Homes and office blocks were badly damaged by the strong winds

However, a few people used the chaos to their advantage - four prisoners escaped from their cells as prison wardens attempted to mend a hole in the roof.

Bilis is now over mainland China, but meteorologists say it has lost some of its power.

Vietnam hit

Although Tropical Storm Kaemi, which hit Vietnam on Tuesday, was considerably weaker than Bilis, it appears to have proved more deadly.

Its victims included three tourists, two Indians and one Thai, and two crew members who drowned when their sight-seeing boats capsized in Halong Bay in the north.

Nine other people died in central interior regions, officials said.

Several fishing boats were reported to have sunk in rough seas off the central coast and dozens more are unaccounted for, state media reported.