Taiwan confirms 376 dead, 254 missing from typhoon

TAIPEI: Taiwan government on Tuesday confirmed that 376 people were killed while 254 were missing after Typhoon Morakot struck two weeks ago,
bringing the worst flooding in the island's history.

The latest figures included 238 confirmed deaths from the worst-hit southern village of Hsiaolin, where 186 others still remained accounted for, the National Fire Agency said.

The toll could rise higher as the agency also listed around 60 bodies and/or body parts yet to be identified.

The typhoon lashed the island earlier this month, bringing a record three metres (118 inches) of rain, submerging houses and streets and destroying bridges.

President Ma Ying-jeou has called Morakot the worst-ever typhoon to strike Taiwan, saying the scale of the damage was more severe than a 1959 typhoon that killed 667 people and left around 1,000 missing.

The deadliest natural disaster in the island's history was a 7.6-magnitude quake that claimed around 2,400 lives in September 1999.