Tears, sorrow, anger and emotional breakdowns yesterday marked the touqi (頭七) for victims buried alive in Xiaolin Village (小林), Jiaxian Township (甲仙), Kaohsiung County.
According to traditional Taiwanese belief, touqi — “the seventh day” after someone’s death — is the day when the spirit of the deceased returns home. According to tradition, family members of the deceased must prepare a treat for their loved ones and hold religious rituals to guide them to the proper destination.
Many Xiaolin villagers who were evacuated after most of the village was buried by landslides last Sunday returned yesterday to hold the touqi ritual.
Survivors walked back and forth across the bare ground, stopping to light incense sticks and burn paper money for the dead. A monk rang a small bell, which people believe will help the souls of the dead find their way home.
Mourners cried and hugged each other at the service honoring family and friends who perished in the storm.
“Mom! I’m such a useless person! I promised to buy a small plot of farmland in Taipei for you to live and grow some vegetables,” a man surnamed Yeh (葉) cried on his knees. “But now everything’s gone, it’s gone, it’s all gone!”
Another woman in tears held a stack of photos and told reporters who the people in the pictures were.
“These are my parents, my brother, my nephews, their wives,” she said. “A total of 17 people in my family were all gone overnight.”
A man hit his head with a wine bottle and started bleeding after apologizing to his mother for not saving her. He was rushed to the township office for treatment.
Morakot dumped almost 3m of rain on southern Taiwan, triggering mudslides in southern highlands that stranded thousands in mountainous villages.
As many as 400 residents of Xiaolin village are believed to have been buried alive under mud as deep as 15m last Sunday.
The villagers had asked the army to stop digging for the victims because they want the dead to be left in peace and their mud-covered village turned into a memorial park.
Meanwhile, two navy landing craft yesterday morning landed on beaches in Taitung County’s Jhihben (知本) to deliver 200 tonnes of water and food supplies to Hsianglan (香蘭), Jinluen (金崙) and Dawu (大武) townships, where more than 20,000 residents were still stranded without food or potable water.
Vehicles carrying rescuers and supplies were also able to enter Highway 9 yesterday after the Directorate General of Highways managed to make the entire highway accessible from Taimali (太麻里) in Taitung County to Fonggang (楓港) in Pingtung County.
The Central Emergency Operation Center said yesterday that a total of 35,134 people had been evacuated.
About 3,200 remained stranded in Kaohsiung County and an additional 3,700 people remained cut off in Taitung county, while 9,000 were trapped in Chiayi county, local government officials said yesterday.
The National Police Agency asked those who had lost contact with loved ones since the typhoon to provide DNA samples at local police stations to help identify the dead.
Mount Zion, a Christian community living in isolation in the mountains in heavily devastated Namasiya Township (那瑪夏) in Kaohsiung County said that all its members — including seven who had been missing for seven days — survived the disaster, attributing their survival to God’s blessing.
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