Taiwan typhoon claims 461 lives

TAIPEI: Taiwan on Tuesday confirmed that 461 people were killed while 192 were missing after Typhoon Morakot struck two weeks ago causing the worst flooding in the island's history.

The latest figures included 318 confirmed deaths from the worst-hit southern village of Hsiaolin, where 106 others were still unaccounted for, the National Fire Agency said.

Previously the death toll from the typhoon stood at 376.

The toll was expected to rise, with the agency also listing 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 said the scale of damage caused by Morakot 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.