Rescuers check on reports of people buried under mudslides

(AFP) Aug 25, 2004
TAIPEI, Aug 25 (AP) - Rescuers were sent to check on reports that 104 villagers were feared buried under tonnes of mudslides which toppled their homes during typhoon Aere's attack, rescue authorities said Wednesday.

Taiwanese television stations said residents from 24 homes in a village in the northern county of Hsinchu may have failed to escape before the mudslide occurred.

"We have sent rescue teams to the remote village to check the authentity of the reports," a rescue center official told AFP.

The official, who declined to be identified, said the village concerned should have been evacuated Tuesday night.

Rescue authorities said earlier that typhoon Aere left at least six people dead and nine missing in Taiwan before lashing eastern China.

TERRA.WIRE