Several hours after torrential rain flooded Kaohsiung County on Sunday as Typhoon Fanapi hit the nation, about 20 patients in an elderly care center were found immersed in water, prompting Kaohsiung County Commissioner Yang Chiu-hsing (楊秋興) to seek out those responsible for the mishap.
When a rescue crew arrived at the Pu Te Elderly Center in Gangshan (岡山), they found 29 elderly patients, some of whom were bobbing up and down in flood water.
In the first 48 hours of the typhoon, Gangshan reportedly received 950mm of rain, most of it in the first six hours.
PHOTO PROVIDED COURTESY OF THE TAIWAN RED CROSS
After water started flooding houses in the area at about 5pm on Sunday, the county government’s 119 emergency reporting center at the Fire Department received a call at 7:07pm, in which the caller told them that about 30 elderly people at the care center were stranded by the flooding.
Using rubber boats, a team of 11 rescue workers was dispatched to the center, where they immediately started moving the elderly to the second floor.
They also discovered that the owner of the center was absent. Only a chef and two migrant workers were at the center with the patients. The 29 patients were relocated to nearby hospitals and other care centers.
“Silence reigned in the house. No one was calling for help or groaning, maybe because they were terribly scared by the flooding, or maybe they were simply exhausted,” rescue worker Hsiao Shun-fu (蕭順福) said.
Hsiao said he saw about 20 elderly people immersed in dirty floodwater that reached a height of 1m. Hsiao was filled with horror at seeing some of them shivering from the cold.
During a visit to some of the flooding victims relocated to the Show Chwan elder care center, Yang demanded that the county government “impose a heavy penalty” on the owner of the Pu Te elderly center.
Wu Li-hsueh (吳麗雪), director of the county government’s Bureau of Social Affairs, said leaving elderly patients alone with insufficient nursing personnel during a typhoon highlighted serious deficiencies, as did the absence of the owner of the center.
Upon learning of the incident on Tuesday, Yang said the care center’s license could be revoked.
Lin Kuang-chieh (林光杰), the owner of the center, said he would not accept the government’s decision to shut him down because he dialed 110 and 119 at about 5pm asking for help.
Eight restaurants in Taiwan yesterday secured a one-star rating from the Michelin Guide Taiwan for the first time, while three one-star restaurants from last year’s edition were promoted to two stars. Forty-three restaurants were awarded one star this year, including 34 in Taipei, five in Taichung and four in Kaohsiung. Hosu (好嶼), Chuan Ya (川雅), Sushi Kajin (鮨嘉仁), aMaze (心宴), La Vie by Thomas Buhner, Yuan Yi (元一) and Frassi in Taipei and Front House (方蒔) in Kaohsiung received a one-star rating for the first time. Hosu is known for innovative Taiwanese dishes, while Chuan Ya serves Sichuan cuisine and aMaze specializes
Taitung County is to launch charter flights to Malaysia at the end of this year, after setting up flights to Vietnam and Thailand, the Taitung County Government said yesterday. The new charter flight services, provided by low-cost carrier Batik Air Malaysia, would be part of five-day tour packages for visits to Taitung County or Malaysia. The Batik Air charter flight, with about 200 seats, would take Malaysian tourists to Taitung on Dec. 30 and then at 12:35pm return to Kuala Lumpur with Taiwanese tourists. Another charter flight would bring the Taiwanese home on Jan. 3 next year, arriving at 5:30pm, before taking the
Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. (THSRC) plans to ease strained capacity during peak hours by introducing new fare rules restricting passengers traveling without reserved seats in 2026, company Chairman Shih Che (史哲) said Wednesday. THSRC needs to tackle its capacity issue because there have been several occasions where passengers holding tickets with reserved seats did not make it onto their train in stations packed with individuals traveling without a reserved seat, Shih told reporters in a joint interview in Taipei. Non-reserved seats allow travelers maximum flexibility, but it has led to issues relating to quality of service and safety concerns, especially during
An exhibition celebrating Taiwan and Japan’s comic culture opened on Saturday in Taichung, featuring a section that explores Taiwanese reproductions of Japanese comics from when martial law limited Japanese representation. “A Century of Manga Culture: An Encounter of Taiwan and Japan’s Youth” held its Taiwan opening ceremony at Taichung’s National Taiwan Museum of Comics after an initial one-month run in Japan’s Kyoto International Manga Museum between May 24 and June 24. Much like the Kyoto exhibition, the show mainly celebrates the comic connection between Taiwan and Japan through late Taiwanese comic book
RSS