Two marines who were on Friday injured in a military exercise in the waters off Kaohsiung passed away yesterday, Navy Command said.
The marines — surnamed Tsai (蔡), 26, and a sergeant surnamed Chen (陳), 36 — were in a seven-member Marine Corps team that encountered rough seas during a simulated response to enemy forces landing on Taiwan. Their rubber craft overturned in waters off Taoziyuan (桃子園) beach in Zuoying District (左營), injuring four of the marines.
They were rushed to hospital, where three of them — Tsai, Chen and a 34-year-old sergeant — were taken to an intensive care unit with pulmonary edema, a condition caused by an excessive amount of fluid in the lungs.
Photo screen grab from the Republic of China Navy’s Facebook page
Kaohsiung Armed Forces General Hospital’s Zuoying branch confirmed that Tsai was declared dead 36 minutes past midnight after his family decided to cease resuscitation efforts.
The navy later yesterday said that Chen was declared dead at 6:29pm after his family decided to halt resuscitation efforts.
Navy Command extended its condolences to the families, and said that posthumous promotion, compensation and funeral assistance would be given to Tsai and Chen, and their families.
Speaking on the sidelines of an international forum in Taipei in the afternoon, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said that she has ordered the Ministry of National Defense to launch a thorough investigation into the incident, provide the utmost care and support to the victims and their families, and strive to ensure that such a tragedy never occurs again.
Meanwhile, a navy officer who was among the supervisors of the anti-landing exercise has died in an apparent suicide, the military said yesterday.
Navy Lieutenant Commander Yang (楊) was found hanging by the neck in his room at the Kaohsiung Zuoying naval base hours after marine Tsai’s death, the navy said in a news release, without giving Yang’s full name.
Yang was rushed to hospital, but efforts to resuscitate him failed, the navy said.
He was a member of the navy’s Education, Training and Doctrine Development Command, it said.
It extended its condolences to Yang’s family and said it would offer them funeral assistance.
Navy Command Political Warfare Director Chang Chun-yi (張存義) said that prosecutors have ruled out foul play in Yang’s death, based on a postmortem report by medical examiners.
No suicide note has been found, and the military would not speculate on whether Yang’s death was related to the fatal boat accident, he said, adding that it is working with prosecutors to find out why Yang committed suicide.
The initial findings of an investigation into Friday’s incident show that it was caused by an unexpected surge of waves, Navy Command said in a news release yesterday.
The Marine Corps during the drill used combat rubber raiding craft that each weigh 146kg, and the marines’ outfits weighed more than 10kg and included a combat uniform, a lifesaver, military boots and a rifle, local media reported.
Records show that most accidents involving marines were related to armored amphibious vehicles, making the latest incident the first major one involving a rubber craft.
The accident raised the questions whether the marines were struck by the boat and rendered unconscious after falling overboard, whether they were trapped under it, or whether the raft itself was problematic.
Military officials said an investigation into the incident continues and a report would be released soon to shed more light on it.
Additional reporting by Lin Hui-chin and Aaron Tu
SCHEDULE: The delegation is due to meet with President Tsai Ing-wen this morning and witness the signing of an MOU on bilateral health cooperation in the afternoon US Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Alex Azar yesterday arrived in Taipei aboard a US government plane at the head of a delegation that is the highest-level visit by a US official since Washington switched diplomatic recognition to China in 1979. Azar’s flight landed at Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) at 4:48pm, nearly one hour earlier than scheduled, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. The apron where it landed is reserved for military aircraft, the Songshan Air Force Base Command said. The members of Azar’s delegation included HHS Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response Robert Kadlec, HHS Chief of Staff Brian
ALEX AZAR: The first visit by a head of the Department of Health and Human Services would strictly observe the CECC’s special regulations, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said US Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Alex Azar is to lead a delegation to Taiwan — the highest-level visit by a US Cabinet official since the two sides cut formal relations in 1979. The plan was announced yesterday morning by the US Department of Health and Human Services and confirmed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA). Beijing has expressed its concerns to Washington, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Wang Wenbin (汪文斌) said later yesterday. Taiwan and the US only issued statements saying that the visit would happen “in the coming days.” MOFA said that due to security concerns, it would
‘CROSS-STRAIT CONSIDERATIONS’: Groups said that the Ministry of Education’s policies excluded Chinese and students should not be blocked over political issues The Taiwan International Student Movement yesterday said it would protest today outside the Ministry of Education in Taipei against a policy that excludes some Chinese students from returning to Taiwan amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Since June 17, the ministry has allowed foreign students from 19 “low risk” and “medium-low risk” countries and regions to enter Taiwan. On July 22, it announced that it was relaxing restrictions to include students from all countries and regions who are graduating this semester and on Wednesday it further expanded entry to students enrolled in degree programs. A letter sent by the ministry on Wednesday to universities did
The military last week sent “no small number” of Marine Corps officers to the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Island, 東沙群島) following reports of a Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) drill targeting the islands scheduled for this month. In an interview with Hong Kong’s Bauhinia Magazine published on Saturday last week, PLA National Defense University professor Li Daguang (李大光) confirmed that the Chinese army was planning to stage a simulated invasion of the Pratas Islands in the South China Sea this month. The islands comprise three atolls, with Pratas Island, at 1.74km2, being the largest. They lie southwest of Taiwan proper in the South
RSS