A typhoon packing winds as great as 130 mph slammed into western Japan Tuesday, killing at least six people and injuring more than 200.
Typhoon Songda, the seventh typhoon to hit Japan this year, hit the Kyushu region, pounding southwestern and western Japan with torrential rain, the Kyodo news agency reported.
More than 4,000 people were evacuated amid widespread blackouts and canceled train and plane service in the region.
At least six died in the storm and 204 were injured.
Among the fatalities were 22 sailors on an Indonesian freighter that ran aground in the Seto Inland Sea off Yamaguchi Prefecture Tuesday morning. Three bodies were found nearby.
At its eye, Songda had winds of 86 mph; closer to its perimeter winds were gusting to 130 mph.
© Copyright 2004 by United Press International
