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MONDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2009
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Typhoon Toll Hits 500 as Taiwanese Are Buried Alive

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(Newser) – Flooding and mudslides caused by Typhoon Morakot killed over 500 people in Taiwan, President Ma Ying-jeou said today in the country's first firm estimate of casualty figures. Some 400 people are believed to have been buried alive in a single village, the BBC reports. The military has now reopened a road into the worst-hit district, but officials believe nobody trapped since Monday's mudslides has survived.

Thousands of Taiwanese troops have been moving into the affected areas on helicopter and by foot as part of a massive rescue operation to save thousands of stranded people. In one area, survivors had to be hauled 100 feet by cable over a raging river where a bridge had been washed out. Ma has come under heavy criticism for his response to the disaster, with many saying lives could have been saved if the rescue effort had been mobilized faster.

A helicopter flies over a mudslide affected area of Shiao Lin village in Kaohsiung county, southern Taiwan.
A helicopter flies over a mudslide affected area of Shiao Lin village in Kaohsiung county, southern Taiwan.   (AP Photo)
The Taiwanese military rescues villagers on an emergency cable sling strung across the Ba Si Lan river in Sinfa, Taiwan, yesterday.
The Taiwanese military rescues villagers on an emergency cable sling strung across the Ba Si Lan river in Sinfa, Taiwan, yesterday.   (AP Photo/Wally Santana)
The Taiwanese military rescues villagers on an emergency cable sling strung across the Ba Si Lan river in Sinfa, Taiwan, yesterday.
The Taiwanese military rescues villagers on an emergency cable sling strung across the Ba Si Lan river in Sinfa, Taiwan, yesterday.   (AP Photo/Wally Santana)
Soldiers rescue trapped residents from the flooded village of Shiao Lin, Taiwan.
Soldiers rescue trapped residents from the flooded village of Shiao Lin, Taiwan.   (AP Photo/Taiwan Military News Agency)
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3 comments
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Jayster999
Aug 14, 09 2:35 AM CDT
Bummer. I've always had an affinity for the Taiwanese. Too bad our government sold them out when they were fighting the reds. Reply
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IN RESPONSE:
Telecide
Aug 14, 09 6:56 AM CDT
So had the victims been 'red' Chinese you wouldn't particularly care?
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IN RESPONSE:
Reader60610265
Aug 14, 09 8:25 AM CDT
Jayster , the U.S. did not sellout the taiwanese their leadership did . Chiang Ki chec and his cronies wouldn't listen to their U.S. advisers and subsequently got their buts kicked. If it wasn't for U.S. policy the taiwanese would have been swallowed up by the chinese long ago.
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