The chief engineer of a British freighter has been confirmed dead and the first mate injured during typhoon Hagupit in south China, an official said on Thursday.

Rossgraham Henry, 52, the chief engineer of the freighter Maersk Kithira, and first mate Collier Gareth, 49, were injured when the ship was caught and tossed by Hagupit off the coast of Guangdong Province at 9 p.m. on Tuesday.

The ship arrived in the harbor of Xiamen, Fujian Province, on Wednesday and the two were hospitalized, said the official with the Xiamen frontier inspection station.

However, Henry, who sustained severe back injuries and broken legs, died. His body is being kept in a funeral home in Xiamen.

Gareth boarded the ship, which left for Kaohsiung, Taiwan, on Thursday afternoon, after being treated in Xiamen.

According to the National Meteorological Observatory, Hagupit, the 14th strong typhoon this year, landed in Maoming, Guangdong on Wednesday morning and was downgraded to a tropical depression at 2 a.m. on Thursday.

(Xinhua News Agency September 25, 2008)