Taiwan confirms typhoon death toll of 292

TAIWAN’S government yesterday confirmed 292 people were killed and 385 missing after Typhoon Morakot struck the island and caused its worst flooding in half a century earlier this month.

Those still unaccounted for include 311 from the southern village of Hsiaolin, the National Fire Agency said.With the hope of finding bodies fading, an increasing number of people still hunting for loved ones decided to list them as dead rather than missing.

Relatives in Hsiaolin yesterday decided to halt their search for the corpses of those buried by mud that is three to four stories deep, television stations reported.

At least 45 people were injured as the typhoon lashed the island with a record 118 inches of rain, submerging houses and streets and destroying bridges more than two weeks ago.

President Ma Ying-jeou, whose popularity has sunk to an all-time low since the typhoon over his administration’s slow response to the disaster, has said the final death toll could exceed 500, with hundreds buried.

Further complicating reconstruction efforts was an outbreak of suspected swine flu infections in the flooded area. Premier Liu Chao-shiuan ordered all the soldiers mobilised for the clean-up and reconstruction operation to wear protective face masks.