Three killed as typhoon hits South Korea

At least three people were killed and dozens injured on Thursday when Typhoon Kompasu hit South Korea, cutting power to tens of thousands of homes and disrupting transport, officials said.

The storm was the strongest to hit the Seoul area for 15 years. It was expected to move into the Sea of Japan (East Sea) by the afternoon.

An 80-year-old man in Seosan, South Chungcheong province, was killed after being hit by a flying roof tile, the National Emergency Management Agency said.

In Bundang on Seoul's southern outskirts a broken tree branch hit and killed a 37-year-old man leaving for work, the agency said, while a man in his 70s was electrocuted in the southwestern city of Mokpo.

Emergency rooms in Seoul's main hospitals were packed with people seeking first aid for injuries.

The storm cut power to at least 130,000 homes in South Chungcheong and South Jeolla provinces and the southwestern city of Gwangju, the emergency agency said. About 100 homes in Seoul reported broken windows.

A power outage also hit parts of the extensive subway network, disrupting above-ground sections of two lines. Wind damage to fruit farms and rice paddies was estimated to be heavy.

A total of 128 domestic and international flights were cancelled at airports nationwide, Yonhap news agency said. The main air gateway at Incheon west of Seoul cancelled or diverted nearly 20 early-morning international flights.

Almost 150 ferry trips from Mokpo to Jeju island were suspended.

Seoul's education office urged elementary and middle schools in the city to open two hours late and all public and private kindergartens closed for the day.

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