The Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) Thursday sent a message of condolence to Taiwan compatriots who were victimized by Typhoon Xangsane.
The typhoon poured rain on the island from Monday to Wednesday night and caused widespread devastation.
Intense rains brought by the typhoon triggered rock and mudslides in mountainous regions, burying dozens of people, causing widespread power outages and blocking roads.
The Taiwan government put initial agricultural losses at around T$2 billion (US$62.5 million), and said it was the most destructive typhoon since Typhoon Herb killed 73 people and caused T$14 billion in losses in July 1996.
Taiwan rescue workers searched for 32 people on Thursday after Typhoon Xangsane, the island's most destructive storm in five years, triggered flash floods and landslides that killed at least 53 people.
In a letter to the Taiwan-based Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF), the ARATS expressed its sincere sympathy to the Typhoon victims, the wounded and their families.
(China Daily 11/02/2000)
