China's death toll from Tropical Storm Bilis jumps to 612

BEIJING (AFP) - The death toll in China from Tropical Storm Bilis has risen to 612 with another 208 people missing, state media said, as the country braced for more devastation from Typhoon Kaemi.

In another major reassessment of the impact of devastating floods brought by Bilis, Xinhua news agency said the nation's disaster relief commission raised the death toll by 82 and the number of missing by 78.

The commission gave no reason for the sudden jump in the casualty numbers from Bilis, which first struck south and central China on July 14.