Taiwan's death toll from typhoon Morakot climbed to 136 as of 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, not including the 523 villagers buried alive by mudslides, local disaster response authorities said.

Among the dead, six were rescue workers who died in relief operation.

Another 386 were missing and 45 were injured in the worst typhoon to hit the island in nearly five decades, which caused havoc across the central and southern regions.

More than 24,000 people have been evacuated, and nearly 6,000 people are housed in emergency shelter areas.

At a press conference Tuesday, Taiwan leader Ma Ying-jeou expressed gratitude to the mainland and the international community for aid provided in Taiwan's typhoon disaster relief efforts.

Organizations and individuals on the mainland had donated about 176 million yuan (26 million U.S. dollars) to Taiwan, said State Council Taiwan Affairs Office spokeswoman Fan Liqing on Wednesday.

The mainland had also donated 25 million yuan of disaster relief materials to the island, including prefabricated houses, sleeping bags, blankets and sterilizers, Fan said.

Morakot cost the island more than 13 billion New Taiwan Dollars in damages to agriculture. The three counties that suffered most were Pingtung, Tainan and Kaohsiung.

(Xinhua News Agency August 19, 2009)