Taiwan begins rescue of 700 villagers found alive

TAIWAN: Taiwan’s military on Wednesday launched a helicopter rescue of more than 700 people who were found alive in three villages flattened by landslides, a senior military officer told AFP.

“We have found around 700 people alive in three villages last night and 26 more this morning. We are deploying 25 helicopters to evacuate them,” said Major-General Richard Hu.

Hu said he was unable to confirm how many people had been buried or killed by a huge landslide in Hsiaolin and two nearby villages.

As of late Tuesday, 219 people from Hsiaolin and several nearby villages had been airlifted to safety, Hu said. Chishan, Wednesday, AFP