TAIPEI: People waited to be taken to safety as soldiers searched typhoon-devastated areas for survivors and bodies yesterday and the death toll was expected to climb nine days after Typhoon Morakot struck Taiwan.

The official death toll rose to 126 and Taiwan leader Ma Ying-jeou has warned the number could climb to more than 500, with hundreds feared buried.

About 40,000 troops began a new phase of the rescue operation, shifting their focus from evacuations to combing remote areas, said transport chief Mao Chih-kuo, who is leading the emergency response.

A total of 1,638 people were waiting to be airlifted from 44 severely damaged villages, Mao said during a news conference Sunday night.

It could take up to six months to rebuild roads and bridges in typhoon-hit areas, making it hard for people to live in some remote villages in the meantime, he added.

People refusing to leave those areas may have to be removed by force, he said.

"One could hardly imagine the cost if those people continue to stay on the mountains and all of their daily needs have to be airlifted," he said.

The typhoon has turned into a political storm for Ma who acknowledged widespread public anger over the weekend by apologizing to survivors for failing to recognize the scale of the crisis in time.

As relatives took it upon themselves to search for loved ones, the government blocked roads in five seriously affected counties to prevent the public from disrupting rescue efforts.

Typhoon Morakot slammed into Taiwan on August 8, dumping more than three meters (120 inches) of rain that unleashed floods and mudslides that tore through houses and buildings, ripped up roads and smashed bridges.

It was the worst-ever typhoon to strike Taiwan, Ma said on Friday, saying the scale of the damage was more severe than a 1959 typhoon that killed 667 people and left around 1,000 missing.

AFP

(HK Edition 08/18/2009 page2)