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Search for missing men continues after one found

“Immediately after their discovery, the bodies were sent to a hospital in Maroantsetra. The bodies will be sent to Antananarivo for further examination.” — Andrew Chang, head of the Department of African Affairs

The search for the remaining seven Taiwanese businessmen who went missing off the northeastern coast of Madagascar on Friday will go on as long as it takes, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday.

The ministry announced late on Monday that the bodies of Taiwanese businessman Liu Shou-chih (劉守智) and Chinese businessman Li Bo (李波) had been found 10 nautical miles (18.5km) away from where the vessel carrying eight Taiwanese and one Chinese had apparently capsized.

“Immediately after their discovery, the bodies were sent to a hospital in Maroantsetra. The bodies will be sent to Antananarivo for further examination,” said Andrew Chang (張雲屏), head of the ministry’s Department of African Affairs, thanking the Malagasy government and the US embassy in Antananarivo for their assistance in the search mission.

Liu Shou-chih’s older sister, Liu Chih-ling (劉芝玲), tearfully thanked Buddha for keeping her brother from sharks.

“We heard sharks had bit off all four of Li’s limbs. We thank Buddha for keeping my little brother’s body intact,” she said, adding that his body would be cremated in Madagascar.

The family lambasted the ministry for its slow response to the incident, adding that if the ministry had acted more efficiently, “maybe the tragedy would never have occurred.”

Liu Shou-chih’s sister and younger brother were scheduled to leave for Madagascar last night.

Chang said the nation’s deputy representative to France, Adrian Liu (劉時) — who was Taiwan’s last envoy to Madagascar before the representative office was closed in 2000 — and another French-speaking ministry official were also expected to fly to the African island to provide assistance.

Liu Shou-chih was in the lobster and eel business. The family said he was on a commercial fishing ground inspection trip off the northeastern coast of Madagascar with seven other Taiwanese businessmen and a Chinese investor.

Three search teams are combing the area, Chang said, adding that the ministry would do everything it can to find the other men.

Chang accompanied Minister of Foreign Affairs Francisco Ou (歐鴻鍊) on a visit to the grieving family in Jhonghe (中和), Taipei County, yesterday afternoon. The family was told that Adrian Liu’s strong connections with the Malagasy government would facilitate operations.

Interior Minister Liao Liou-yi (廖了以) also visited the family to offer his condolences.

Ou on Monday night announced that a special hotline had been set up to handle overseas emergencies. But Ministry spokesman Henry Chen (陳銘政) said yesterday that many callers were misusing the hotline.

“The number is reserved for overseas emergencies after work hours. We strongly urge the public not to call the number with mundane questions to avoid clogging up the line in case of real emergencies,” Chen said.

Chen also downplayed a report by Xinhua news agency referring to the eight missing men as “Chinese” rather than “Taiwanese.”

Chen said the most important thing was to find the missing men.
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