A fire at a hospital in southern Taiwan killed at least nine people on Thursday as the island was being battered by a typhoon.

The fire occurred in Pingtung county, which has been hit hard by Typhoon Krathon, which made landfall in the afternoon with torrential rains and heavy winds and has brought parts of the island to a standstill.

Those who died inhaled smoke from the fire, the source of which was still under investigation.

Soldiers from a nearby base were mobilised to help medical workers and firefighters in the evacuation of patients and putting out the flames.

Reports said 176 patients were rushed to the front entrance and transferred to ambulances in the pouring rain. They were moved to shelters nearby.

Krathon made landfall in the major port city of Kaohsiung, packing winds of 126 kph (78 mph) with higher gusts, according to Taiwan’s weather authorities.

The typhoon is forecast to move slowly north and weaken into a tropical depression by Friday before it reaches the capital, Taipei.

It appears to be heading across the Taiwan Strait toward the Chinese coast. Winds were strong in Taipei on Thursday, but there was little rain.

Kaohsiung earlier urged its residents to take cover from potentially disastrous winds and rain, which tore down storefronts and flooded car parks but caused no reported loss of life.

The slow-moving typhoon has doused eastern and southern parts of the island over the past five days, forcing thousands to evacuate from mountainous or low-lying areas.

The weather administration has Kaohsiung and Pingtung County residents to not go outside when the eye of the storm passes above their area.

Flooding and high winds have caused considerable damage to industries from fishing to to chemicals, while cutting off transportation routes and electrical networks.

Weather-related events attributed to Krathon injured at least 123 people around the island, according to Taiwan’s fire department.

Two people died — one after driving into fallen rocks on the road in the southeastern Taitung county, and the other while trimming tree branches in the city of Hualien.

Two others remained missing.