TAIPEI, Taiwan, Nov 3, (AP): A ride-hailing driver recounted how he had narrow escape when a huge tree smashed onto his vehicle as Typhoon Kong-rey swept over Taiwan, also sweeping away metal roofs and sending landslides onto roads and railway tracks and into houses. Song Zi-jie had just dropped off riders in Taipei, the capital city, and was stopped at a red light on Thursday night when a tree was uprooted and fell squarely onto the passenger compartment of his car.

He felt the roof hit his head and reclined his seat but couldn’t open the rear door. He lay there until police found him. "I was so frightened that I didn’t know what to do,” said Song, who wasn’t injured despite the extensive damage to his vehicle. "It took me a while to return to normal.” Two people died, four people are missing and 580 others were injured by Kong-rey in Taiwan. It weakened to a tropical storm after leaving the island but was still bringing heavy rain and windy conditions to Shanghai and nearby parts of China’s east coast on Friday.

Kong-rey, which is a Cambodian name, was heading northeast along the coast with winds of 83 kilometers (52 miles) per hour and could make landfall in Zhejiang province before veering back out to sea, the National Meteorological Center said. Zhejiang authorities evacuated about 280,000 people and opened more than 10,000 emergency shelters ahead of the storm, the official Xinhua News Agency said. Both Zhejiang and neighboring Fujian province also suspended multiple ferry routes.

In Taiwan, a Czech couple who had gone missing while hiking in the mountains were found and airlifted out of Taroko National Park by helicopter on Friday. They told Taiwanese TV network EBC that they hadn't been aware of the approaching typhoon but were able to call for help with their mobile phones and mostly stayed in their tent until rescuers arrived.