Taiwan typhoon death toll rises

Typhoon Xangsane - havoc in Taiwan and the Philippines

At least 53 people have been killed in Taiwan and 10 are missing after Typhoon Xangsane swept across the island.

The winds and rains... were probably among the strongest in three decades and the casualties are the worst in recent years

Taiwanese Prime Minister Chang Chun-hsiung

Reports say 23 sailors are also feared dead after their freighter broke up off the northern coast.

Prime Minister Chang Chun-hsiung said the winds and rains were probably the strongest for 30 years.

The storms are also thought to have been a possible factor in the crash of a Singapore airline on Tuesday that killed at least 81 people.

At its strongest, Typhoon Xangsane blew winds of up more than 110km/h across a radius of 250km.

The heavy rains brought by the typhoon set off rock and mudslides in mountainous regions, burying dozens of people, and caused widespread powercuts.

Officials put initial agricultural losses at around T$2bn ($62.5m).

The heaviest fatalities were in the northern county of Keelung, where 14 elderly people died after becoming trapped by rising flood waters at their nursing home.

"They were elderly and could not move very quickly," an interior ministry official said.

Other fatalities in Keelung included 15 Taoists who drowned at their worship site in the basement of a building.

Around 50 people have also been injured.

Those still missing include a family of five whose house was washed away in a flood.

Sea rescue mission

Rescuers are also searching for 23 sailors whose freighter, Manila Spirit, broke up in rough sees off Sanhao Point.

One Indonesian crew member managed to swim ashore and is in hospital.

But two helicopter searches on Thursday failed to turn up any more survivors. A rescue ship has been sent to the area.

In August Typhoon Bilis left at least 11 people dead and 80 others injured in Taiwan.

Typhoon Xangsane, which means Elephant God in Chinese, arrived in Taiwan after wreaking havoc in the Philippines where it killed at least 26 people and left tens of thousands homeless.