TOKYO: Japan will send a disaster relief team and supplies to Taiwan to assist in the wake of Typhoon Morakot, the Foreign Ministry said in a press release Wednesday.

It said Japan plans to dispatch a five-member team, including one foreign ministry official, two medical crew and two international aid officers to Taiwan. They are expected to arrive in the island on Friday.

The typhoon triggered the worst flooding in the southern part of Taiwan in a half-century, and the death toll will likely exceed 500 people.