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Taiwan tries to save lots of sailors stranded by Hurricane Gaemi

Taiwan's coast guard tried on Friday to rescue lots of sailors stranded off the southern coast after Tropical storm Gaemi sank a freighter and grounded eight others in the Taiwan Strait.

The powerful typhoon swept through Taiwan on Thursday with gusts of up to 227 kph (141 miles per hour) before barrelling west throughout the Taiwan Strait towards China where it is anticipated to discard more downpour.

One team member was found dead, while 4 were rescued and four others were missing out on after a Tanzania-flagged cargo ship sank off Taiwan's southern Kaohsiung port, the island's coast guard authorities told .

Seventy-nine team members still waited for rescue on 8 other trucks that were stranded, the coast guard said. Nine people were rescued earlier today from a Togo-flagged truck stranded on a beach.

Braving waves five-meters high ... our ships made it to as close as one nautical mile but still stopped working to get closer, Taiwan's Ocean Affairs Council Minister Kuan Bi-ling, whose department runs the coast guard, said in a post on Facebook.

She stated the number of freighters stranded by Tropical cyclone Gaemi near Taiwan was unprecedented for a typhoon, including authorities will continue the rescue efforts.

In Taiwan, the storm dumped over 1,800 mm (70.8 inches) rain in southern mountains because Tuesday and bringing flash flooding to several cities and towns that has mainly declined.

The hurricane hurt more than 500 people and eliminated five, most of them struck by fallen objects, and rescuers took more than 300 people out of floodwater in inflatable boats. Companies and schools in most parts of southern Taiwan were shut for a third day.

(source: Reuters)