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Rescuers scramble to clean up in wake of Sinlaku

A rescue team stands ready in Nantou County yesterday morning to search for vehicles buried in a landslide caused by Typhoon Sinlaku. PHOTO: LIN CHIA-HSIU, TAIPEI TIMES

Rescuers continued search operations yesterday after Typhoon Sinlaku pounded Taiwan over the weekend, leaving at least 11 people dead and 11 missing, the National Disaster Prevention and Protection Commission said yesterday.

At least 20 people were injured when Sinlaku lashed the nation, disrupting land and air traffic and causing power blackouts.

Hundreds of rescuers have been mobilized to combat floods and conduct rescue missions, while nearly 2,000 people were evacuated to safety, the commission said.

The latest casualty came after a tunnel in central Taiwan partially caved in, killing seven people, the National Fire Agency said.

At 5:30pm yesterday, seven people were found buried alive after the Fengchiu Tunnel (豐丘隧道) in Nantou County collapsed on Monday. Officials said they included Tung Cheng-bin (董振彬), Jin Tien-fu (金添福) and Wang Shu-mei (王淑美).

Several backhoes were used to remove earth and rocks that buried the mountainside tunnel and a volunteer who was directing traffic on Monday afternoon.

Rescue operations also continued at the Lushan Hot Springs Resort (廬山溫泉區) in Nantou County, where several hotels shifted on their foundations during the typhoon, with one seven-story structure falling on its side across a riverbed.

One woman was buried alive at the Lushan resort while several others were washed away by flooded rivers and listed as missing.

Two people were found buried in a mudslide in Miaoli County.

They were identified as Liao Ching-kang (廖慶康) and Lin Shi-mei (林細妹).

Also in Miaoli County, a 41-year-old man named Chen Rong-tang (陳榮堂) died when he fell into a ditch while riding a motorcycle.

In Taichung County, divers and soldiers were combing the Tachia River after part of the Houfeng Bridge (后豐橋) collapsed during the typhoon on Sunday night, causing three cars with six people to plunge into the water.

Rescuers announced they had recovered one car and its occupant yesterday. The body of Lei Yu-chi (雷毓琦) was found on Monday, they said. As of press time, rescuers were still searching for the other five people reported missing in the accident.

Eight others in Changhua, Nantou, and Taichung remained missing at press time yesterday.

The agricultural losses exceeded NT$670 million (US$20.9 million), with Ilan and Nantou counties the hardest-hit.

Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Chiu Yi (邱毅) yesterday lashed out at the Cabinet, saying that the government failed to draw up disaster relief plans in time.

“People are suffering. Therefore, the government should show some gumption and take immediate measures to solve the crisis,” he said.

“We [the KMT caucus] will demand the Cabinet do its best [in the disaster relief]. Since we are in office now, we should perform well,” KMT caucus whip Lin Yi-shih (林益世) told reporters.

KMT Legislator Tsai Chin-lung (蔡錦隆) said he found the government’s relief measures only “all right,” while urging the Cabinet to work harder to help people return to their normal life.

Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Sinlaku is moving back over open water and is forecast to strengthen as it approaches the southern islands of Japan.

Sinlaku was over the South China Sea northeast of Taipei with maximum sustained winds of 83kph at midday yesterday, the Japan Meteorological Agency said on its Web site.

Sinlaku’s winds were gusting to 120kph as the storm slowly headed east toward the main islands of the Okinawa chain in southwestern Japan.

It is forecast to become a typhoon again by tomorrow as it swings to the northeast, the Japanese weather agency said.

The storm left 135 roads in need of repair and cut power to 277,000 households in Taiwan. It brought as much as 1,600mm of rain to some areas, sparking landslides and causing rivers to flood their banks.

Chinese authorities evacuated about 500,000 people as the storm’s outer wind and rain bands lashed coastal areas of China, Xinhua news agency reported.

The storm dumped heavy rain on China’s coastal provinces of Zhejiang and Fujian and the city of Shanghai yesterday.

ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY FLORA WANG


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