Postman Tsai Yu-li (蔡有利) found himself with hundreds of letters to deliver to the dead in the wake of Typhoon Morakot.
When the road to Sinkai Community (新開) in Kaohsiung County reopened on Thursday for the first time since the Aug. 8 storm, Tsai rode by motorbike to the village to deliver hundreds of letters, the China Times reported yesterday.
Tsai, who has delivered letters to the community for 31 years, was crushed by the scene he found.
PHOTO: CNA
Standing on a heap of mud that buried houses and killed 32 residents, Tsai wept as he held up letters to those who had died and shouted: “My brothers, if you hear me, please pick up your letters.”
Reporters on the scene asked Tsai why he was reading out the names of people who could not claim their letters.
Tsai said that over the years, the villagers came to collect their letters as he read out their names.
“When the villagers heard my shouts, they would run out of their houses to greet me and pick up their mail. I know all the villagers and their backgrounds. They are like family,” he said.
“I know they are dead, but if they hear me and know that I have brought a letter for them, maybe they will leave this world with a contented heart,” he said.
The death toll after Morakot stands at 141, while 440 people have been confirmed missing. Hundreds more are feared buried under as much as 10m of mud in Siaolin Village, Kaohsiung County.
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