A couple were attended to this week after their three young children told police that their parents were trying to commit suicide, New Taipei City police said yesterday.
The boys were carrying luggage when they arrived at Shalun Police Station in Banciao District (板橋) late on Thursday.
Police said the children told officers that “father and mother told us to ask for help from the police to contact our grandfather.”
Photo provided by New Taipei City Police Precinct
Asked where their parents where, the children said: “Mom and Dad said they are going to commit suicide.”
The oldest boy, nine, said he and his brothers were traveling with their parents, but were dropped off after being told about the suicide plan.
The police immediately began a search for the couple.
They were also contacted by an uncle of the boys, who said his sister-in-law had texted him for help.
She said in the text that her husband had passed out and that she had changed her mind about committing suicide, but was afraid that she was going to lose consciousness soon.
Using surveillance camera fottage and the information provided by the woman, the police located the couple’s car in the Tatung Mountain (大同山) area of Shulin District (樹林), and pulled the pair out of their exhaust-filled vehicle.
The couple were hospitalized and are now in stable conditions, the police said.
The three children were taken home by their grandfather, police said, adding that the family is set to receive assistance from social welfare groups.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique