An aerial picture from Monday shows the floods after Typhoon Morakot hit southern Taiwan. (Pingtung government/Reuters) About 400 people are unaccounted for in Taiwan after a mudslide caused by Typhoon Morakot struck a mountain village, officials said Monday.
Morakot dumped about two metres of rain onto some communities in Taiwan over the weekend before moving on to China, where it forced the evacuation of nearly one million people along the east coast.
Medical personnel evacuate children by a military helicopter on Monday from a village struck by a landslide when Typhoon Morakot swept southern Taiwan. (Reuters)A Taiwanese police official told The Associated Press that about 100 people were rescued from a mudslide in Shiao Lin on Sunday. At least 400 people are believed to still be trapped in the area, the official said.
Meanwhile, one of the rescued villagers told United Evening News that he believed at least 600 people were still buried in the mud.
"The mudslide covered a large part of the village including a primary school and many homes," said resident Lin Chien-chung. "A part of the mountain above us just fell on the village."
The village remained cut off on Monday due to flood waters in the area and destroyed roadways and bridges.
Military helicopters dropped provisions into the area and were working to rescue survivors.
'A part of the mountain above us just fell on the village.'вЂ"Shiao Lin resident Lin Chien-chung
Continuing bad weather was preventing the helicopters from landing, said official Yang Chiu-hsing.
Taiwan is currently reporting that 14 people died from Morakot and 51 are officially listed as missing.
22 dead in Philippines
The storm is also believed to have left at least 22 dead in the Philippines. Officials said 18 people were injured and four people are missing, including three European tourists who were swept away.
Paramilitary policemen drive a motorboat in a flooded village in Cangnan County in eastern China on Sunday. (Associated Press)Morakot has now been downgraded to a tropical storm.
When the typhoon slammed into China's Fujian province on Sunday it was carrying heavy rain and winds up to 119 km/h, according to the China Meteorological Administration.
In China, the storm flooded hundreds of villages and towns and caused more than 2,000 houses to collapse, according to the state news agency.
Morakot is the first typhoon to hit the area this year. Typhoons frequently move in between July and September, often causing injuries and deaths in mountainous regions prone to landslides and flash floods.
Meanwhile in Japan, Typhoon Etau slammed into the west coast Monday. Twelve people were killed in raging flood waters and landslides, and 10 others were missing, police said.
With files from The Associated Press