Typhoon shuts down Philippine capital

A heavy downpour of rain is seen over high-rise buildings as Typhoon Rammasun strikes in Makati, the financial district of Manila, Philippines, 16 July 2014. -EPA

MANILA: Typhoon Rammasun shut down the Philippine capital on Wednesday as authorities said the first major storm of the country's brutal rainy season claimed at least one life and forced hundreds of thousands to evacuate.

Wind gusts of up to 250 kilometres (155 miles) an hour and intense rain caused chaos across the megacity of Manila, as well as remote fishing villages, after Rammasun tore in from the Pacific Ocean on Tuesday night.