Taiwan mudslide survivors found


About 700 people feared dead following a mudslide in Taiwan have been found alive, officials reported Wednesday.

The mudslide engulfed several remote villages after Typhoon Morakot pummelled the island with more than two metres of rain over the weekend.

Officials said many people from the villages appear to have made it to higher ground before the mud and rock covered their homes.

Survivors began to be spotted in Shialo Lin, which was most catastrophically hit by the mudslide, on Tuesday, said relief operations spokesman Maj.-Gen. Hu Jui-chou.

Shiao Lin and its surrounding villages remain cut off from the outside world because the rain washed out roads and bridges in the area.
Military airlifts

About 120 army helicopter flights have ferried at least 300 of the survivors to safety in the southern town of Kaohsiung, which has been the focal point of relief operations.

People from the flooded area of Kaohsiung County in Taiwan walk on a damaged road on Wednesday after Typhoon Morakot.People from the flooded area of Kaohsiung County in Taiwan walk on a damaged road on Wednesday after Typhoon Morakot. (Reuters)At least 200 of the people were airlifted from Shialo Lin, officials said.

Hu said efforts to get people out of the devastated regions have been complicated by continued bad weather in the area.

Some people who do not appear to need immediate medical assistance are being left on the ground and food and supplies are being air-dropped, officials said.

Many of the airlifted mudslide survivors are arriving at hospitals with injuries, said Albert Yu, communications manager with World Vision Taiwan.

"Right now they're in shock. They've lost their homes, they've possibly lost their livelihoods," Yu said.
Typhoon aftermath

Morakot struck the Philippines, Taiwan and China and left at least 93 people dead, most of them in Taiwan. The typhoon and its aftermath are also believed to have killed millions of livestock.

There is no way of knowing how many people may be buried in the mud in Taiwan, said Cishan police Chief Lee Chin-lung.

"We've got some people out," Lee said. "But it is extremely hard to know how many remain there."

Taiwan's population register says that Shiao Lin has 1,300 inhabitants, though many, Lee said, were believed to be living elsewhere.

Some rescued villagers said that as many as 600 people may have been buried alive when the mudslide hit.

On Tuesday, the National Fire Agency put that number at 100, without offering any evidence to support the claim.

0 comments:

Post a Comment