Taiwan Mudslide Buries 500 in Wake of Typhoon

A typhoon-spawned mudslide engulfed a mountain village in southern Taiwan, burying up to 600 people, a police official and a rescued villager said today. Earlier, Typhoon Morakot had struck the Philippines, leaving at least 22 dead. Another typhoon slammed into Japan's west coast today, bringing heavy rain that triggered floods and landslides that left at least 13 people dead and another 10 reported missing.

Morakot dumped up to 80 inches of rain on some Taiwanese communities over the weekend before moving on to China, where it forced the evacuation of nearly 1 million people along the east coast. It has now been downgraded to a tropical storm. A Taiwanese official said about 400 people are still unaccounted for after yesterday's mudslide, while about 100 people have been rescued by military helicopter or avoided the slide; a villager said up to 600 were likely still buried. (More typhoon stories.)