Typhoon Ragasa death toll rises to 18 after body found in Hualien river

Taipei, Sept. 29 (CNA) Rescuers recovered a man's body Monday in Dongfu Village, Hualien County, bringing the confirmed death toll from Typhoon Ragasa to 18, the Central Emergency Operation Center (CEOC) said.

Seven people remain missing, and 107 others were injured nationwide.

Soldiers discovered the body during shoreline searches near Kalotong, about seven kilometers downstream from flood-hit Fozu Street in Guangfu, one of the hardest-hit areas after torrential rain and the overflow of the Matai'an Creek barrier lake triggered massive flooding last week.

Authorities said the body was badly decomposed and could not be immediately identified.

The missing include a gravel pit owner, a retired professor, and several residents swept away by floodwaters.

As of 9:20 a.m., the CEOC reported 788 disaster incidents across Taiwan, with 736 of them in Hualien.

Six shelters in Guangfu are accommodating 652 displaced residents, while nearly 2,500 soldiers with heavy equipment remain deployed for clearing roads, delivering relief supplies and search operations.

The Matai'an Creek barrier lake, which overflowed last Tuesday, remains unstable. Its water level has dropped by 118.5 meters since then, leaving just 6.1 million metric tons of water, only 6.7 percent of its original capacity. Officials warned that red alerts will stay in place due to unstable slopes and continuing inflows.

Search teams concentrated Monday on Fozu Street and nearby gravel pits, where several people remain unaccounted for.

Meanwhile, flood defenses in Guangfu are being reinforced with temporary levees after multiple dikes were damaged. Reconstruction of the Matai'an Creek Bridge will proceed in stages, starting with an emergency culvert road by Oct. 15, a steel bridge by January and permanent rebuilding through late next year, according to the CEOC.