Some 300 visitors were trapped in the cabins of Taipei's Maokong cable car system yesterday afternoon for about an hour due to an equipment failure on a sizzling summer day as the temperature soared to a high of 38.6oC.
The equipment failure occurred at 4:50pm at the Corner One Station (轉角一站) and left 323 passengers in 57 cabins hanging in mid-air, system operator Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said.
"We have activated the rescue mode to evacuate passengers. It's a mechanical failure and we will ensure that every visitor returns to the ground safely," TRTC vice president Tan Kuo-kuang (譚國光) said.
Tan said POMA of France, the system's builder, sent engineers to fix the problem as the company's workers evacuated the passengers.
The evacuation began at 5:50pm. The last passengers were evacuated from the system at around 6:55pm.
The Taipei City Department of Health later also sent ambulances and medical staff from nearby Taipei Wangfang Hospital to assist passengers that might be suffering heat-related injuries.
After waiting in a cable car cabin for more than 40 minutes before returning to the station, a passenger from Kaohsiung expressed his frustration over the breakdown.
"It's like sitting in an oven ... I am very disappointed with the cable car," he said.
Since its operation earlier this month, the cable car has experienced several shutdowns caused by lighting strikes, thundershowers or mechanical failures.
On Friday, a visitor to the Maokong system suffered from a minor head injury after being hit by a digital video camera that was dropped from above by another visitor.
That incident marked the first visitor injury for the system.
The Central Weather Bureau said that yesterday's temperature of 38.6oC yesterday matched the high on July 31, 1921, for the hottest day recorded in the nation's history.
Additional reporting by CNA
Taipei has once again made it to the top 100 in Oxford Economics’ Global Cities Index 2025 report, moving up five places from last year to 60. The annual index, which was published last month, evaluated 1,000 of the most populated metropolises based on five indices — economics, human capital, quality of life, environment and governance. New York maintained its top spot this year, placing first in the economics index thanks to the strength of its vibrant financial industry and economic stability. Taipei ranked 263rd in economics, 44th in human capital, 15th in quality of life, 284th for environment and 75th in governance,
The Sports Administration yesterday demanded an apology from the national table tennis association for barring 17-year-old Yeh Yi-tian (葉伊恬) from competing in the upcoming World Table Tennis (WTT) United States Smash tournament in Las Vegas this July. The sports agency said in a statement that the Chinese Taipei Table Tennis Association (CTTTA) must explain to the public why it withdrew Yeh from the WTT tournament in Las Vegas. The sports agency said it contacted the association to express its disapproval of the decision-making process after receiving a complaint from Yeh’s coach, Chuang
Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) tendered his resignation last night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by media. His resignation was immediately accepted by the Control Yuan. In a statement explaining why he had resigned, Lee apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon on May 20. The issue first came to light late last month, when TVBS News reported that Lee had instructed his driver to take the dog to the salon. The news channel broadcast photos that it said were taken by an unnamed whistle-blower, which purportedly showed the
A former officer in China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) who witnessed the aftermath of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre has warned that Taiwan could face a similar fate if China attempts to unify the country by force. Li Xiaoming (李曉明), who was deployed to Beijing as a junior officer during the crackdown, said Taiwanese people should study the massacre carefully, because it offers a glimpse of what Beijing is willing to do to suppress dissent. “What happened in Tiananmen Square could happen in Taiwan too,” Li told CNA in a May 22 interview, ahead of the massacre’s 36th anniversary. “If Taiwanese students or
RSS