Typhoon Morakot has killed at least 127 people and left 307 missing in Taiwan as of 8:30 AM on Tuesday, say local disaster response authorities.

Another 45 people were injured in the worst typhoon to hit the island in nearly five decades as it caused havoc across central and southern regions.

The authorities said these figures do not include villagers in Kaohsiung County, where 32 are thought buried in mudslides in Xinkai Village in Taoyuan Township, and 491 in Xiaolin Village in Jiaxian Township.

More than 24,000 people have been evacuated, and over 5,000 people are housed in emergency shelter areas.

Morakot had caused nearly 12.28 billion New Taiwan Dollars (US$372 million) in damages to agriculture and civilian facilities by Monday.

(Xinhua News Agency August 18, 2009)