An Indonesian migrant fisherman working on a Taiwanese fishing boat on Thursday has been missing following an alleged fight with a compatriot while at sea, the Tung Kang Fishermen Association of Pingtung County said.
The incident took place on Thursday afternoon, when the Ming Man Hsiang No. 38, registered in the county’s Liouciou Township (琉球), was 530 nautical miles (982km) northeast of Guam, the association said.
It said the man, who had worked as the ship’s cook, went missing after he was stabbed by his compatriot and pushed overboard.
The Taiwanese captain of the fishing boat, surnamed Ku (辜), asked for assistance from the Shun Man Fa No. 2, another Taiwanese fishing boat in the vicinity, to search for the stabbed fisherman, but both had failed to find him so far, the association said.
It remained unclear whether the fisherman was dead or alive.
The captain said he would continue to work with the Shun Man Fa No. 2 to search for the missing sailor.
When the incident happened, the captain and 11 Indonesian sailors were on board the Ming Man Hsiang No. 38, including the missing man and the suspect.
The suspect has been detained on the boat and was being closely monitored by other crew members, the association said.
The captain has reported the incident to the association and the Fisheries Agency at the Council of Agriculture.
The association cited the captain as saying that the detained fisherman, who had knife cuts on his arms, appeared to be in an emotionally unstable state, adding that the agency has asked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for help finding a country nearby prepared to accommodate and take care of the suspect to prevent any risks.
The captain said that the Ming Man Hsiang No. 38, which remained at sea, lacked sufficient fuel to return to Taiwan, so the vessel would moor at the nearest port for refueling before heading home.
Officials said it was possible that the Criminal Investigation Bureau would dispatch a team to return the suspect to Taiwan for questioning, as it has done in similar cases.
The association later in the day reported that the Coast Guard Administration had sent its patrol vessel the Wei Hsing to where the fishing vessel is anchored to help it return to Taiwan.
The patrol vessel is scheduled to reach the fishing boat on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the agency has contacted neighboring countries with the help of the foreign ministry to ask for assistance in searching for the missing sailor.
A fugitive in a suspected cosmetic surgery fraud case today returned to Taiwan from Canada, after being wanted for six years. Internet celebrity Su Chen-tuan (蘇陳端), known as Lady Nai Nai (貴婦奈奈), and her former boyfriend, plastic surgeon Paul Huang (黃博健), allegedly defrauded clients and friends of about NT$1 billion (US$30.66 million). Su was put on a wanted list in 2019 when she lived in Toronto, Canada, after failing to respond to subpoenas and arrest warrants from the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office. Su arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport at 5am today on an EVA Air flight accompanied by a
A 79-year-old woman died today after being struck by a train at a level crossing in Taoyuan, police said. The woman, identified by her surname Wang (王), crossed the tracks even though the barriers were down in Jhongli District’s (中壢) Neili (內壢) area, the Taoyuan Branch of the Railway Police Bureau said. Surveillance footage showed that the railway barriers were lowered when Wang entered the crossing, but why she ventured onto the track remains under investigation, the police said. Police said they received a report of an incident at 6:41am involving local train No. 2133 that was heading from Keelung to Chiayi City. Investigators
The Keelung District Prosecutors’ Office today requested that a court detain three individuals, including Keelung Department of Civil Affairs Director Chang Yuan-hsiang (張淵翔), in connection with an investigation into forged signatures used in recall campaigns. Chang is suspected of accessing a household registration system to assist with recall campaigns targeting Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) city councilors Cheng Wen-ting (鄭文婷) and Jiho Chang (張之豪), prosecutors said. Prosecutors yesterday directed investigators to search six locations, including the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) Keelung office and the residences of several recall campaign leaders. The recall campaign leaders, including Chi Wen-chuan (紀文荃), Yu Cheng-i (游正義) and Hsu Shao-yeh
COVID-19 infections have climbed for three consecutive weeks and are likely to reach another peak between next month and June, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. Weekly hospital visits for the disease increased by 19 percent from the previous week, CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) said. From Tuesday last week to yesterday, 21 cases of severe COVID-19 and seven deaths were confirmed, and from Sept. 1 last year to yesterday, there were 600 cases and 129 deaths, he said. From Oct. 1 last year to yesterday, 95.9 percent of the severe cases and 96.7 percent of the deaths
RSS