(Photos: Agencies)

At least two people were killed by super typhoon Mangkhut as of 8:00 pm BJT (1200 GMT) Sunday, China Central Television reports. 

Typhoon Mangkhut made landfall in Taishan, Guangdong Province at 5 pm Sunday, with strong winds of up to 162 kilometers per hour, according to Guangdong Meteorological Observatory. 

More than half a million people have been evacuated to avoid the brunt of the destructive typhoon Mangkhut, the most powerful storm to hit China this year, says the Ministry of Emergency Management Sunday afternoon.

A total of 695,000 people living South China’s Guangdong, Guangxi and Hainan provinces, areas along the path of Mangkhut, have been moved to safety. 

Trees are broken by Typhoon Mangkhut at Futian District in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province, Sept. 16, 2018. (Photo: Xinhua)

The ministry also says that up to 24,000 firefighters and soldiers in Southwestern China have been geared up and deployed to the areas that are at most risk from the storm.

Additional emergency rescue forces in other parts of China including the coastal provinces Zhejiang and Fujian are ready to offer support within 12 hours.