Super Typhoon Ragasa hits Taiwan, killing 14, leaving 124 missing

At least 14 people have been killed in Taiwan after Super Typhoon Ragasa, which originated in the South China Sea, hit the country. At least 18 people were injured and at least 124 are still missing. Ragasa is now heading towards China’s southern coast and Asia’s financial hub Hong Kong.
Ragasa hit the coast of Hualien on Tuesday (September 23). Lee Kuan-ting, the administrative officer of Taiwan’s eastern Hualien district, confirmed that the district was also the worst-hit, AFP and Reuters reported.
“According to the latest information from our fire service rescue team, 14 people have been killed and 18 injured in Hualien due to the storm so far. In addition, at least 124 people are still missing. Rescue efforts are underway to find them,” Lee Kuan-ting said.
According to the report, the news agency Reuters reported that Ragasa caused severe storms and heavy rains in Taiwan and Hong Kong, another autonomous island territory located on the coast of the South China Sea. However, there were no reports of deaths, injuries or missing in any other district of Taiwan or Hong Kong except for Hualien.
Typhoon Ragasa, which originated from a depression in the South China Sea, has been called a super typhoon by scientists in the Philippines, China and Taiwan due to its enormous strength and destructive power. When Ragasa hit the Philippine coast at around 3 pm local time last Monday, the wind speed was 230 kilometers per hour.
Ragasa hit the coast of Batanes Island in Cagayan province in the northern Philippines. The island is located off the east coast of Taiwan.
Firefighter Wang Se-an said the dead and missing were all in Guangfu, where a major road bridge over the river was swept away by floodwaters. His entire village, home to about 1,000 people, was submerged and many were still trapped.