All 36 Taiwanese tourists in Japan’s earthquake-hit cities of Kumamoto and Aso in Kumamoto Prefecture are safe and accounted for, Taiwan’s representative office in Fukuoka said yesterday.
Twenty-five of the tourists belong to four groups visiting Kumamoto, 10 are from a group in Aso and one is at Kumamoto Airport, Taiwanese officials said.
Their tours were interrupted after a series of strong earthquakes rocked Kumamoto Prefecture on Thursday and yesterday.
A magnitude 7.3 earthquake hit Aso early yesterday morning, killing at least 15 people, injuring many others and bringing down buildings.
An earlier, magnitude 6.4 earthquake hit the city of Kumamoto on Thursday, leaving at least nine dead. Rescue workers continue to search for survivors.
Taiwanese officials said that since the earthquakes have damaged bridges and tunnels in Aso, the representative office in Fukuoka could not reach the affected area immediately to offer assistance to the stranded Taiwanese, but it has been in touch with them.
Life Tour, a Taiwanese travel agency that organizes tours to Japan, said that after the first earthquake hit, it evacuated its tour-goers from Kumamoto and Aso to keep them safe.
Meanwhile, several major travel agencies in Taiwan announced yesterday that they have canceled tours that were scheduled to depart for the island of Kyushu, where Kumamoto Prefecture is located, before Tuesday.
The travel agencies, including Lion Travel, Cola Tour and Hsihung Travel Service, said that their clients would either be given a refund or the option of changing their itinerary to go somewhere else.
Lion Travel said it canceled the tours for the sake of the safety of Taiwanese tourists, adding that its clients would be offered a full refund.
Lion Travel said that its clients who are in Kyushu would be taken to Fukuoka or Nagasaki instead.
Cola Tour also said that it would give its clients a refund, but they would have to pay up to 5 percent of their tour expenses as administrative charges.
It said its clients who are in Kyushu would be taken to Fukuoka for their safety.
Hsihung Travel said it has canceled trips departing to Kyushu from tomorrow to Tuesday.
Clients who have signed up for trips to Kyushu between Wednesday and April 30 can cancel their trips or change their itineraries without any extra charges, it said.
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