A bridge in Yilan County collapsed yesterday morning, killing two people, while four remained trapped and at least 10 were injured, including six severely wounded, the National Fire Agency (NFA) said.
The landmark arch Nanfangao Bridge (南方澳橋) hovering above the entry to the port suddenly ruptured and fell to the ground at about 9:30am, crushing three fishing boats, and an oil tank truck just about to exit the bridge at the time fell to the ground and caught fire.
The fire was extinguished shortly after and the driver was rescued.
Photo: Chiang Chih-hsiung, Taipei Times
Except for the Taiwanese truck driver, the other nine injured were foreigners — six Filipinos and three Indonesians working on the fishing boats caught in the accident.
Six fishers were initially reported as missing.
At press time last night, Minister of the Interior Hsu Kuo-yung (徐國勇) said that two bodies had been found, whose identities were still being determined, while the other four were believed to be trapped.
Photo: CNA
The six are believed to be Indonesian and Filipino workers, Yilan County Labor Affairs Department Director-General Wu Chih-hung (吳志宏) said, citing information from a labor broker.
Their employer owns five boats and employs 23 migrant fishers, Wu added.
The Coast Guard Administration said it had dispatched three ships to the scene and deployed 66 people for the search-and-rescue mission.
Photo: Chu Pei-hsiung, Taipei Times
It has also set up an emergency response center to deal with any issues.
A Black Hawk helicopter operated by the Ministry of National Defense took off from Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) at 11am to take over site surveillance, which was earlier provided by an NA101 chopper of the National Airborne Service Corps, the NFA said.
Authorities are trying to determine the cause of the collapse. Initial information received by the Ministry of Transportation and Communications indicated that a collapse of the bridge piers might be to blame.
Photo courtesy of the Coast Guard Administration via CNA
Transportation officials said it was not yet possible to determine if a magnitude 3.8 earthquake that occurred at 1:45am yesterday in waters off Hualien County and registered an intensity of 4 in Yilan County’s Nanao Township (南澳) had anything to do with the incident.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement yesterday that it had relayed the names of the injured and missing fishers to the two nations’ representative offices in Taiwan.
The offices have sent officials to care for their nationals at the scene, the ministry said, adding that it would provide assistance and stay in close contact with the representative offices and agencies involved in rescue efforts.
The landmark bridge, completed in 1998, was the only single steel arch bridge in Taiwan and was the first bifurcated single-arch bridge in Asia.
Measuring 140m long and 15m wide, it sat across a waterway in the Nanfangao fishing port and was high enough to allow larger fishing boats to pass underneath.
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) founder Terry Gou (郭台銘) pledged to donate NT$10 million (US$322,113) to the Yilan County Government to assist with rescue efforts.
The donation is to be made though the Yonglin Foundation, of which Gou is the founder and chairman, and will go toward disaster response, as well as medical and other expenses for victims, a statement issued by Gou’s office said.
Sharp Taiwan also pledged to give NT$1 million to the disaster effort, at the initiative of Tai Cheng-wu (戴正吳), president of Hon Hai subsidiary Sharp Corp, according to the statement.
Additional reporting by Lin Chia-nan
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