Rescuers search Taiwan village after Typhoon Morakot

By Ralph Jennings

CISHAN, Taiwan (Reuters) - Helicopters dropped rescuers into a village in southern Taiwan Tuesday to search for victims of a mudslide that may have buried up to 600 people after a typhoon hit the island, officials said.

The death toll since Typhoon Morakot and tropic storm Etau cut a swathe through the region climbed to more than 90, including 50 in Taiwan. Media reports said another three were killed aboard a helicopter that crashed on a rescue mission.

Heavy rain in China toppled more than 10,000 dwellings.

With roads cut by mudslides and surging waters, helicopters provided the only means of getting to missing residents of Hsiao Lin village in southern Taiwan's mountainous Kaohsiung county.

Survivor Lee Chin-long, 50, said he watched as walls of mud and rock wiped out most of the village, home to 1,000 people.

"I was watching from my house upstairs. The whole mountain just fell off. When I saw that, I started to run," said Lee, speaking from a shelter in the nearby town of Cishan, the hub of rescue operations.

"Almost every house was gone, except for a couple."

Military officers running operations said helicopter missions had found very few survivors though Taiwan's disaster agency said about 100 villagers had been rescued. About 600 people remained unaccounted for and presumed buried.