Hundreds unaccounted for in Kaohsiung village: survivors

Only 44 of the more than 1,300 registered residents in Siaolin Village managed to avoid the mudslides.

The reports said earlier over 600 residents were still unaccounted for, quoting a female family member of residents believed to be trapped in the village and possible buried alive.

A 46-year-old man surnamed Wong said yesterday 10 of his family as well as their house disappeared under the mudslides.

Wong told cable TV news channel TVBS that he was able to escape the disaster because he was out making the rounds of his farms.

Another rescued villager surnamed Lin told the United Evening News that he also believed as many as 600 people were still buried by the mud.

The mudslide was triggered in the early morning and covered a large part of the village, including a primary school and many homes, he said.

It was like a part of the mountain just fell on the village, covering all of the buildings, he said.

But he did not explain the apparent discrepancy between estimate of deaths of survivors and the policeman's smaller estimate of people still missing.

A police officer said about 100 people have been rescued by military helicopters or had avoided Sunday morning's mudslide in the village.

Members of a military rescue team said late yesterday they found more than 100 survivors, including adults and children, gathering at farming huts on a plateau on the mountain.

Helicopter pilots said rescue missions will start today to lift them to safety.

A total of 1,313 people have their household registration in the village, but only a fraction of them live there year round.

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