SEOUL: Torrential rain brought by the approach of Typhoon Dianmu has left three people dead and grounded dozens of flights in South Korea, the disaster control agency said Wednesday.

Two hikers drowned as they crossed a swollen stream in northwestern Seoul where 120 millimetres (five inches) of rain fell in the space of three hours late Tuesday, the National Emergency Management Agency said.

A driver died after his taxi was caught in a flooded waterway in Mapo district in western Seoul.

Some 130 homes were flooded nationwide, 74 flights were cancelled and 91 ferry trips suspended, the agency said.

In addition to the confirmed deaths, Yonhap news agency said a local TV journalist died in the southern port city of Busan on Wednesday, a day after he fell into the sea while reporting on the typhoon at a pier.

Dianmu made landfall on the south coast early Wednesday. It was expected to dump more rain late Wednesday as it passes through the south of the country towards the Sea of Japan.

BDST:9:00 HRS, August 11, 2010