Tropical storm Hagibis, the 25th this year, is approaching the Nansha islands in the South China Sea after affecting tens of thousands of fishermen in Vietnam.

Hagibis, meaning "rapidity" in the Tagalog language of the Philippines, was located at 9.8 degrees north latitude and 113.2 degrees east longitude at 2:00 a.m. on Thursday, the Hainan provincial meteorological observatory said.

It was packing winds of about 100 kilometers per hour at its eye and sweeping northwestward at a speed of 10 kilometers per hour, the observatory said.

The observatory forecast wind and rain for the coastal areas of Hainan on Thursday and Friday and gales of up to 110 kilometers per hour.

On Wednesday, Vietnam asked nearby countries to give shelter to thousands of its fishermen caught up in the tropical storm.

(Xinhua News Agency November 22, 2007)