More than 1,300 people are still trapped in remote mountainous villages in southern Taiwan, victims of treacherous mudslides and floods from Typhoon Morakot, the country's semiofficial Central News Agency said Saturday.
Rescue officials quoted by the news agency said 1,373 were trapped, and 75 helicopters were scheduled to conduct rescue missions Saturday in the counties of Kaohsiung, Pingtung, Taitung and Chiayi.
The storm hit last weekend, dropping 2.6 meters (102 inches) of rain on Taiwan. After hitting Taiwan, Morakot roared on to mainland China on Sunday, killing at least six people and displacing 1.4 million, authorities said.
The toll was much higher in Taiwan, where the storm was blamed for killing 123 people, according to the latest figures from Taiwan's National Disaster Prevention and Protection Commission.
Mary Yu, spokeswoman for the commission's Central Emergency Operation Center, said 53 people were unaccounted for.
At least 1,375 people awaited rescue in towns inaccessible to rescuers who have faced torrential downpours, dense fog, rugged terrain and raging rivers. Washed-out roads and bridges have made some rescue operations impossible, the disaster commission said.
Despite the obstacles, 2,518 people were rescued on Saturday, Yu said.
Southern and central Taiwan were hardest hit by the storm.
Mudslides flattened some places in southern Taiwan, including the small village of Shiao Lin. Authorities believe hundreds of people could be trapped under five stories of mud in the village.
A memorial service was being held under a tent where framed pictures of the dead were crowded on tables.
"He's gone, he's gone, that one's gone, all these grandchildren are gone," said a tearful Yu Chin Chih. She lost 10 members of her family.
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