Family members, friends and colleagues yesterday mourned and paid tribute to the 48 people killed in the crash of a TransAsia Airways (復興航空) plane on Penghu on Wednesday evening.
The Ministry of Culture’s Bureau of Cultural Heritage confirmed that 82-year-old Yeh Ken-chuang (葉根壯), a carpenter and master of traditional Taiwanese architecture, was among those who died when Flight GE222 crashed into Sisi Village (西溪) while making a second approach to Magong Airport.
Yeh was certified in 2010 as a preserver of timber framing (or “big woodworking”) techniques by the Penghu County Government and was due to be named as a “living national treasure” candidate at a meeting scheduled for Tuesday, bureau head Shy Gwo-long (施國隆) said.
Photo: Sam Yeh, AFP
Known as “Master Chuang” among other carpenters, Yeh specialized in designing and constructing large traditional wooden architecture such as temples, but was also skilled in wood carving and decoration. His works include Wang An Wu Fu Temple and Long Men Kuanyin Temple in Penghu.
Minister of Culture Lung Yin-tai (龍應台) said the ministry was shocked by the loss of Yeh and the bureau would contact his family and offer it full assistance.
The bureau has also been told to help preserve Yeh’s records on timber-framing techniques, Lung said.
A 47-year-old Penghu firefighter, Lee Ming-tsun (李明村), was also among the victims.
His body was discovered in the wreckage by some colleagues, who shouted: “He is my brother,” Penghu County Fire Bureau Chief Hong Yung-peng (洪永澎) said.
The firefighters were “shocked and saddened” by the discovery, he said.
Lee was a leader of the Kaohsiung Harbor Fire Brigade’s division in Penghu’s Magong Harbor. He was returning to Penghu after a holiday.
Lee served with the brigade in Greater Kaohsiung for 20 years. He was reassigned to Magong more than two years ago and was said to get along well with his colleagues.
Another returning Penghu resident who died in the crash was military police officer Tsai Min-hua (蔡民華). Tsai had been on vacation on Taiwan proper, but had been recalled to Penghu to be on duty for Typhoon Matmo.
Also among the victims were four members of a Greater Kaohsiung family.
Yen Kuang-chien (顏光健), his wife, Hsu Wen-ching (許文卿), and their daughter and son were traveling to Penghu to visit their parents and bring them back to Greater Kaohsiung to stay with the children during their summer vacation, neighbors said.
Another victim, Chen Cheng-lung (陳正龍), died after taking the day off to accompany his father to a funeral in Penghu.
Greater Kaohsiung Environmental Protection Bureau Deputy Director Chen Chu-feng (陳居豐) said Chen Cheng-lung had worked for him as a driver for almost five years and was a pragmatic and kind person.
One of the flight attendants killed in the crash, 24-year-old Wu Tsi-ying (吳姿瑩), had just joined the company seven months ago.
Wu reportedly posted a message online before the flight took off that read: “It is scary in Kaohsiung now because of strong wind and stormy rain.”
Another flight attendant who died, Kuo Ching-wei (郭晉瑋), had been getting ready to marry his fiancee in South Korea.
Six members of a Penghu family, surnamed Chen, who were aboard the flight were also killed.
More than 750 firefighters, military personnel and government workers were dispatched to the crash site to assist with rescue efforts, Hong said, adding that the heavy rain and darkness on Wednesday night had made rescue work difficult.
Body parts were scattered around the site, he added.
One firefighter said more than 20 bodies that were missing some of their parts had been found near the remains of the plane’s cockpit.
‘ABUSE OF POWER’: Lee Chun-yi allegedly used a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon and take his wife to restaurants, media reports said Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) resigned on Sunday night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by the media. Control Yuan Vice President Lee Hung-chun (李鴻鈞) yesterday apologized to the public over the issue. The watchdog body would follow up on similar accusations made by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and would investigate the alleged misuse of government vehicles by three other Control Yuan members: Su Li-chiung (蘇麗瓊), Lin Yu-jung (林郁容) and Wang Jung-chang (王榮璋), Lee Hung-chun said. Lee Chun-yi in a statement apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a
BEIJING’S ‘PAWN’: ‘We, as Chinese, should never forget our roots, history, culture,’ Want Want Holdings general manager Tsai Wang-ting said at a summit in China The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday condemned Want Want China Times Media Group (旺旺中時媒體集團) for making comments at the Cross-Strait Chinese Culture Summit that it said have damaged Taiwan’s sovereignty, adding that it would investigate if the group had colluded with China in the matter and contravened cross-strait regulations. The council issued a statement after Want Want Holdings (旺旺集團有限公司) general manager Tsai Wang-ting (蔡旺庭), the third son of the group’s founder, Tsai Eng-meng (蔡衍明), said at the summit last week that the group originated in “Chinese Taiwan,” and has developed and prospered in “the motherland.” “We, as Chinese, should never
‘A SURVIVAL QUESTION’: US officials have been urging the opposition KMT and TPP not to block defense spending, especially the special defense budget, an official said The US plans to ramp up weapons sales to Taiwan to a level exceeding US President Donald Trump’s first term as part of an effort to deter China as it intensifies military pressure on the nation, two US officials said on condition of anonymity. If US arms sales do accelerate, it could ease worries about the extent of Trump’s commitment to Taiwan. It would also add new friction to the tense US-China relationship. The officials said they expect US approvals for weapons sales to Taiwan over the next four years to surpass those in Trump’s first term, with one of them saying
INDO-PACIFIC REGION: Royal Navy ships exercise the right of freedom of navigation, including in the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea, the UK’s Tony Radakin told a summit Freedom of navigation in the Indo-Pacific region is as important as it is in the English Channel, British Chief of the Defence Staff Admiral Tony Radakin said at a summit in Singapore on Saturday. The remark came as the British Royal Navy’s flagship aircraft carrier, the HMS Prince of Wales, is on an eight-month deployment to the Indo-Pacific region as head of an international carrier strike group. “Upholding the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, and with it, the principles of the freedom of navigation, in this part of the world matters to us just as it matters in the
RSS