WORLD BRIEFING / TAIWAN
Terrified survivors of Typhoon Morakot were pulled to safety on cables slung across a raging river, five days after dozens of villagers were killed in flash floods.
The army has deployed thousands of troops in a massive effort to rescue hundreds of stranded villagers after the worst flooding to hit Taiwan in 50 years. About 14,000 people have been rescued so far. Hundreds are missing and feared dead. Soldiers tugged evacuees from the farming village of Sinkai 100 yards across the Ba Si Lan River, using a cable sling suspended above the torrential water.
Among the several dozen saved were a young boy and an elderly woman with bare feet and couple of shopping bags worth of belongings salvaged from her home.
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