TOKYO: A powerful typhoon killed at least nine people in western Japan and an airport company had to transfer some 3,000 stranded passengers by boats, public broadcaster NHK reported on Wednesday. More than a million homes were without power.
Typhoon Jebi, or "swallow" in Korean, was briefly a super typhoon and is the most powerful storm to hit Japan in 25 years. It follows heavy rains, landslides, floods and record-breaking heat that killed hundreds of people this summer.
About 3,000 tourists stayed overnight at Kansai airport in the heavily populated south-central area of Japan's main island, Honshu. Television footage showed people lining up to buy food and drinks at a convenience store in the airport.
Kansai airport is on an artificial island. The bridge to the airport was also heavily damaged.
Airport officials began transferring the stranded passengers to nearby Kobe airport by high-speed boats on Wednesday morning, according to NHK.
It could take several days to a week to reopen Kansai airport depending on the damage, the Yomiuri newspaper quoted an unidentified person in the airline industry as saying.
More than one million households were without power in Osaka and its surrounding areas at 7.30am local time (5.30am in Bangkok) on Wednesday and a number of flights and some trains were cancelled, according to the trade ministry and public broadcaster NHK.
