Taiwan Appeals to Foreign Powers for Aid in Rescue Attempts

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The Taiwanese government has requested foreign aid in its attempt to rescue over 2,000 people stranded because of mudslides caused by Typhoon Morakot, the BBC reports. Hundreds of people have been found buried alive and relatives of persons still missing have been exhorting rescue teams to speed up their efforts. Many anxious family members have been waiting at a rescue center at Qishan for days.

Helicopters have been invaluable to Taiwanese rescue operations to drop provisions and carrying survivors to safety. The shortage of helicopters and other such equipment was reflected by many distraught family members converging on Hsiaolin city demading that helicopters be deployed to their villages too.

Nearly 14,000 people have been evacuated from the most devastated areas, but continuing rainfall impedes rescue attempts.

The giant cargo aircrafts that the Taiwanese authorities have announced they need are at the disposal of only the US and Russia, according to the BBC.

The typhoon's damage was not isolated to Taiwan: mainland China was also affected and 1.4 million people were evacuated from coastal regions with 1,000 homes being destroyed.