Taiwan's president says the death toll from flooding and mudslidestriggered by Typhoon Morakot will likely exceed 500 people, in theworst storm to hit the island in 50 years.
Ma Ying-jeou toldaides at a national security meeting Friday that nearly 400 people wereprobably buried alive when a mudslide covered the village of Shiao Linin southern Kaohsiung county. More than 100 people have been confirmeddead due to the disaster.
Mr. Ma's government has beencriticized for what many say was its slow response to the crisis. Thousands of villagers were trapped when floods and mudslides wiped outscores of bridges and roads after Morakot hit last week, dumping morethan two meters of rainfall on the island.
Taipei has deployed troops to the region to rescue thousands of villagers and provide emergency aid, mainly by helicopter.
Rescueofficials in Taiwan are appealing to foreign governments for largehelicopters that are capable of airlifting earth-moving equipment andprefabricated houses.
Mr. Ma's Cabinet is expected to create aspecial budget to cover more than $3 billion in estimated damagesincurred by Typhoon Morakot.
The typhoon also damaged underseacables, disrupting Internet and telephone services to several countriesin East Asia. Taiwan's Chunghwa Telecom issued a statement Friday,saying it is working on restoring service.