Taiwan says two dead, 30 missing in east of island after typhoon

TAIPEI (Reuters) -Taiwan’s fire department said on Tuesday that 30 people were missing and two people had died in the eastern county of Hualien, where a barrier lake in the mountains burst its banks in a typhoon.

Taiwan has since Monday been lashed by the outer rim of Super Typhoon Ragasa, which is now on its way to the southern Chinese coast.

The barrier lake, formed by landslides triggered by earlier heavy rain in the sparsely populated east of Taiwan, burst its banks mid-afternoon on Tuesday, sending a wall of water into Guangfu township.

The fire department put the number of missing in Hualien following the flood at 30, with two deaths reported in Guangfu.

Rescuers from across Taiwan are heading to Guangfu.

Taiwan logged almost 60 cm (24 inches) of rainfall in its east due to the typhoon.

(Reporting by Ben BlanchardEditing by Mark Potter)