TAIPEI/TOKYO, (Reuters) – A mudslide triggered by  torrential rains from a typhoon may have buried up to 600  villagers in mountainous southern Taiwan, disaster officials  said yesterday.

More than 50 people have died in tropical storms striking  the Phillipines, Taiwan, China and Japan.
The death toll so far in Taiwan stood at 15, with 55  missing and 32 hurt, since Typhoon Morakot struck the island on  Friday and remained in the area through the weekend before  battering China’s populous east coast.

Rescue squads aboard helicopters had saved only 45 people  from Hsiao Lin, a village of 1,000 in southern Taiwan. Rains  washed out roads and bridges in Kaohsiung County, severing all  land vehicle traffic.

“No small number of single-storey houses have been covered  in mudslides,” said Richard Hu, an army major-general. “We  don’t know how many people are there, but homes have definitely  been buried.”

Local officials said they had lost contact with up to 600  villagers, with inclement weather reducing even helicopter  access. The storm caused floods in Taiwan’s densely-populated  south and farm-related losses on the island were estimated at  T$4.2 billion ($128 million).