400 people disappeared due to typhoons in Taiwan

Typhoon Morakot caused landslides in a mountain village in Taiwan yesterday, leaving 400 people missing. Local people estimate that there are 600 people buried.

The violent storm brought rainfall up to 2 meters in some parts of Taiwan island before attacking mainland China - where 1 million people had to leave their homes to avoid typhoons. Before that, it had swept through the Philippines, killing at least 22 people.

A Taiwanese police official named Wang said after the landslide in Shiao Lin village, about 100 people were saved by military helicopters. A lucky resident escaped death, Lin Chien-chung, said about 600 people were still buried in the mud.

" Land falls on a large part of the village, including primary schools and many houses," he said . "A whole part of the mountain fell into our village ."

Landscape flooding in Zhejiang, mainland China.(Photo: AP)

Meanwhile the police estimated the number of people buried was 400. The village is still completely cut off from the outside world, as the floodwaters have washed away a bridge that is as far as 12 km. Military helicopters were mobilized to release necessities to the area and look for survivors.

Currently the number of people killed by Typhoon Morakot, according to Taiwanese officials, has reached 14. In addition to hundreds of people missing in the landslide this morning, there are 51 people who have not been found in other localities.

Morakot - meaning jade in Thai - is raging in southeastern China today. Wind speed in the storm reached 120 km / h when landing on the mainland, but now weakened to about 80 km / h. To avoid the storm, more than 1 million Chinese people have left their homes to evacuate. Flooding caused high water levels, flooding many cities, more than 2,000 houses collapsed.

Meanwhile, in Japan, Typhoon Etau hit the west bank today, causing 12 people to die from floods and landslides, 10 others were missing.