(AGI) - Taipei, 14 Aug. – The recent passage of Typhoon Morakot is having increasingly catastrophic results in Taiwan. The death toll currently stands at 117 but, according to Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou, the total could reach as high as 500 victims. It seems increasingly possible that around 380 people lost their lives buried under mud and detritus which wiped out the village of Hsiaolin, between the mountains in the south of the island, hit by a gigantic mudslide that was caused by torrential downpours caused by the typhoon. Presidential sources have reported that the admission by the president was made during a cabinet meeting about security. The government in Taipei must also deal with furious accusations, fanned by the opposition and by the survivors of ‘Morakot’, about the slowness and inefficiency of rescue operations. Errors made could risk the KMT party its rule at the administrative elections in December. An electoral defeat for the KMT would jeopardise the entire political line of Ma, in power for less than a year so far, who is aiming for a rapprochement with Beijing.