Taiwan's president has said he expects the death toll to reach 500 in the wake of Typhoon Morakot.
Pressure is mounting on President Ma Ying-jeou, in office for just over a year, to expedite operations to rescue hundreds of residents of remote mountainous villages buried or stranded in the aftermath of Typhoon Morakot.
Mr Ma gave his estimate at a national security meeting, a presidential aide said.
Survivors and opposition parties say efforts to rescue people stranded in towns and villages have been sluggish. Some villagers were seen shouting at Mr Ma as he toured devastated areas this week.
The growing pressure on the president, who has improved ties with Beijing since taking power more than a year ago, could drain support for his Nationalist Party in local elections in December.
After days of dispatching helicopters to rescue survivors and distribute food in the village of Hsiao Lin, authorities opened a road into the stricken district on Thursday. But it is now unlikely that anyone trapped since Monday in the landslide had survived.
Earlier, a government official said about 300 people were estimated to have been killed by a massive landslide that wiped out much of a village in southern Taiwan, a government official said today.
"The county magistrate gave the premier a report that in his judgement about 300 were dead," a Government Information Office section chief said, referring to Hsiao Li.
"These are the conditions now. Specific numbers will depend on the army opening the road and sending people in."
The official death toll from a typhoon that hit Taiwan last weekend stands at 116. The worst floods in decades washed out roads, snapped bridges and sent low-rise buildings crashing into rivers, according to the latest statement by the disaster agency.
Morakot has caused about 30 billion Taiwanese dollars in losses to agriculture and infrastructure and reconstruction is expected to cost about 120 billion dollars.
The typhoon has knocked out 34 bridges and severed 253 segments of road in Taiwan, with repairs expected to take up to three years in the worst spots, the transportation ministry said.
In China, which claims sovereignty over self-ruled Taiwan, companies and charities had raised more than 100 million yuan ($14.63 million) in donations, the official Xinhua news agency said.
"Taiwan's disaster has tugged on the heartstrings of mainland [China] compatriots," an official was quoted as saying. "The mainland is willing to provide whatever help it can."
Reuters