The death toll from Typhoon Imbudo, which swept across South China's Guangdong Province late this week, rose to eight on Friday as local governments assessed the cost of the damage.

More than 24 others were injured and three fishermen were still missing on Friday, according to the Guangdong Provincial Anti-Flooding Headquarters.

Three people, including a child, were killed in Maoming when their houses collapsed in the storm accompanying Imbudo on Friday.

One person was also killed in Zhongshan in the western Pearl River Delta that borders the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions.

The day before, Imbudo killed four people in the cities of Luoding and Lianjiang.

The typhoon has wreaked 1 billion yuan (US$120 million) in damage.

Imbudo, the seventh typhoon or tropical storm this year, has affected at least 3.5 million people in western coastal areas of Guangdong Province.

Zhanjiang, Yangjiang, Maoming and Enping were hardest hit by the tropical storm.

In Maoming, where three of the storm deaths were reported, 630,000 residents in 111 towns were affected. The typhoon has left Maoming with a bill of more than 300 million yuan (US$36 million).

In Yangjiang, the economic damage exceeds 580 million yuan (US$70 million).

And in Zhanjiang, electricity and water supplies were suspended in many counties and towns after power poles and pumping stations were destroyed.

Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Zhuhai have also been struck by Imbudo in the past two days.

Imbudo moved into the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region on Friday morning but many cities in Guangdong were still experiencing heavy rain.

(People's Daily July 26, 2003)