Over 70 Missing As Boats Sink More than 70 people are missing after three Chinese fishing boats sank in a powerful typhoon off the coast of Vietnam. The vessels were hit by strong winds near the Paracel Islands in the South China Sea, according to reports. The number of missing fishermen has been put at up to 75. At least five boats carrying 171 people were caught up in rough seas whipped up by Typhoon Wutip, which is expected to make landfall in Vietnam's central region later with winds of up to 93mph, gusts of 125mph and heavy rain. Vietnamese deputy prime minister Hoang Trung Hai ordered a mass evacuation as he travelled around the central provinces. Trees have come down and many people have been evacuated More than 8,000 villagers in Quang Tri province's coastal areas were moved to safer places on Sunday night. Another 35,000 in areas facing serious flooding, landslides and flash floods were also being evacuated. And there were also plans to move over 140,000 people in four other central provinces. Wutip is the strongest typhoon to hit Vietnam this season. The most powerful tropical storm in Asia this year was Typhoon Usagi, which caused at least 33 deaths in the Philippines and China earlier this month.