Rescue and disaster relief agencies went into high alert across Taiwan yesterday as typhoon Dan threatened the earthquake-stricken areas with more land-slides and flooding.
Officials at the Council of Agriculture said the council's satellite surveillance stations spotted 853 new sites of land-slides during the week from Sept. 30 to Oct. 7, with more than 100 landslides per day on average. The new landslides were found in Nantou County (766), Taichung County (74), Yunlin County (20), and Miaoli County (3).
A survey by the council revealed yesterday that 40 of the new landslides are located in densely populated areas.
The council has ordered its central Taiwan office to keep a round-the-clock watch on satellite information, officials said.
Council chairman Peng Tso-kwei (
Heavy rains are also quickly filling Tsaoling Lake (草嶺潭), which had been created by the 921 earthquake. The Water Resources Department began digging a diversion canal yesterday to reduce water pressure. How-ever, officials at the department expressed concern that the impact of the diversion might cause more landslides downstream.
Vice President Lien Chan (
Government spokesman Chen Chien-jen (程建人) said all quake victims living in tents had been evacuated to schools and other shelters.
Meanwhile, a group of 14 legislators set up a cross-party action group for Aborigines (原住民問政會) yesterday and demanded immediate action to help the Aborigines affected by the earthquake. Most of the 42 high-alert danger zones declared after the earthquake are located around aboriginal villages, said legislator Yang Jen-fu (楊仁福), chairperson of the group.
An Emirates flight from Dubai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport yesterday afternoon, the first service of the airline since the US and Israel launched strikes against Iran on Saturday. Flight EK366 took off from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) at 3:51am yesterday and landed at 4:02pm before taxiing to the airport’s D6 gate at Terminal 2 at 4:08pm, data from the airport and FlightAware, a global flight tracking site, showed. Of the 501 passengers on the flight, 275 were Taiwanese, including 96 group tour travelers, the data showed. Tourism Administration Deputy Director-General Huang He-ting (黃荷婷) greeted Taiwanese passengers at the airport and
POSSIBILITIES EMERGE: With Taiwan’s victory and Japan’s narrow win over Australia, Taiwan now have a chance to advance if South Korea also beat the Aussies Taiwan has high hopes that the national baseball team would advance to the World Baseball Classic (WBC) quarter-finals after clinching a crucial 5-4 victory over South Korea in a nail-biting extra-inning game at the Tokyo Dome yesterday. Boosted by three home runs — two solo shots by Yu Chang (張育成) and Cheng Tsung-che (鄭宗哲) and a two-run homer by Stuart Fairchild — the triumph gave Taiwan a much-needed second victory in the five-team Pool C, where only the top two finishers would advance to the knockout stage in Miami, Florida. Entering extra innings with the game tied at four apiece, Taiwan scored
MISSION OF PEACE: The foreign minister urged Beijing to respect Taiwan’s existence as an independent nation, and work together to ensure peace and stability in the region Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) yesterday rejected Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi’s (王毅) comments about Taiwan, criticizing China as a “troublemaker” in the international community and a disruptor of cross-strait peace. Speaking at a news conference on the sidelines of the Chinese National People’s Congress, Wang said that Taiwan has always been a territory of China and that it would be impossible for it to become its own country. The “return” of Taiwan to China was the natural outcome of the Chinese people’s resistance against Japan in World War II, and that any pursuit of independence was “doomed
One person was killed and another seven injured today when a tourist shuttle bus plunged 30m to 40m down a ravine in Nantou County, the Tourism Administration said. The bus is suspected to have suddenly accelerated out of control near the flower center of the Sun-Link-Sea Forest Recreation Area, a popular attraction during cherry blossom season. Of the eight onboard, a 66-year-old man was killed, four were seriously injured and three sustained minor injuries, including the driver. The Nantou County Police Department said it received a report of the incident at 12:15pm and dispatched seven teams to assist. All surviving passengers have been transferred
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