Taiwan appeals for foreign help

　　Taiwan has appealed for international technical assistance to help rescue more than 2,000 people stranded 1 after Typhoon Morakot caused major mudslides.
　　The Taiwanese authorities say they need giant cargo 2 aircraft able to drop large earth diggers and other machinery 3 into remote mountain areas to re-open roads.
　　Correspondents say only Russia and the US are believed to have such aircraft.
　　Relatives of those stranded and of the hundreds feared dead have urged the government to speed up rescue efforts.
　　Many have been waiting for days at the rescue operation centre in Qishan for news of family members missing since the typhoon struck over the weekend.
　　See graphic 4 showing level of rainfall Morakot brought to TaiwanHundreds of people feared buried by mudslides in the south of the country have been found alive.
　　But Taiwan's President Ma Ying-jeou - who visited Qishan on Wednesday - said hundreds more were likely to have died. The number of confirmed dead stands at 108.
　　In pictures: Taiwan rescue'Washed away by the typhoon'
　　Eyewitness 5: Pacific stormsThe Taiwanese government is sending more than 4,000 extra soldiers to speed up rescue （救援）efforts.
　　Speaking while inspecting the rescue operation, President Ma said: "We welcome all forms of aid, and we also need equipment, especially helicopters that can carry cranes."He assured anxious relatives waiting for news that no effort would be spared to find their loved ones.
　　The BBC's Cindy Sui in Kaohsiung county, near the most devastated 6 (破坏)areas, says that while earth diggers are already at work outside the villages cut off by mudslides, the authorities believe that if they can get the machinery inside then the mud and debris 7 will be cleared more quickly.
　　About 1,000 pre-fabricated houses for families left homeless are also needed, our correspondent adds, as well as supplies of disinfectant to help prevent diseases spreading.
　　Military helicopters have been airlifting some of the survivors 8 to safety, and dropping provisions for others, but continuing rain has hampered 9 their efforts.
　　It is now confirmed that all three crew aboard a rescue helicopter which crashed in the bad weather on Tuesday were killed.
　　The typhoon struck Taiwan at the weekend, causing the worst flooding in 50 years.
　　Extra troopsThe BBC's Alastair Leithead, at the Qishan rescue base, says thousands of extra Taiwanese troops have been drafted in to help the rescue efforts.
　　The military is now trying to push out into remote areas on foot as well as by helicopter to establish who is most in need of help, he says.
　　There is still no official estimate （估计）of how many people may have died in the mudslides and flooding that followed the storm.
　　Typhoon Morakot, which lashed 10 Taiwan with at least two metres (80in) of rain over the weekend, has caused at least $225m (?135m) in agricultural damage and left tens of thousands of homes without power and water.
　　The storm also hit mainland China, where about 1.4 million people were evacuated 11 from coastal 12 areas, eight people died in flooding and up to 10,000 homes were destroyed.

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