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
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
President William Lai (賴清德) has appointed former vice president Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) to attend the late Pope Francis’ funeral at the Vatican City on Saturday on his behalf, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today. The Holy See announced Francis’ funeral would take place on Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square. The ministry expressed condolences over Francis’ passing and said that Chen would represent Taiwan at the funeral and offer condolences in person. Taiwan and the Vatican have a long-standing and close diplomatic relationship, the ministry said. Both sides agreed to have Chen represent Taiwan at the funeral, given his Catholic identity and
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if the next president of that country decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said today. “We would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said during a legislative hearing. At the same time, Taiwan is paying close attention to the Central American region as a whole, in the wake of a visit there earlier this year by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Lin said. Rubio visited Panama, El Salvador, Costa Rica and Guatemala, during which he
RSS