Four people died and two were injured in a vehicle accident in Taoyuan’s Fusing District (復興) yesterday, as Typhoon Khanun brought heavy rain and strong winds to northern Taiwan.
The Taoyuan Fire Department said the accident occurred at about noon when a Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電) construction vehicle fell down a 50m slope while rounding a curve near Sbunaw Bridge (雪霧鬧橋).
Four passengers showed no vital signs when rescuers arrived at the site, while one man and one woman sustained injuries.
Photo: Lu Hsiu-hsien, Taipei Times
Further investigation is necessary to determine possible causes of the accident, the police said.
The state-run power firm said that the vehicle was carrying contract workers who were recruited to work on electricity towers along Provincial Highway No. 7.
Taipower had told the contractor that there would be no work because of the typhoon, Taipower spokesman Tsai Chih-meng (蔡志孟) said, adding that the contractor had confirmed that no one was at work.
Photo: Sam Yeh, AFP
“We have dispatched personnel to Taoyuan to get a better understanding of the situation,” Tsai added.
While Taipei, New Taipei City and Keelung declared yesterday a typhoon day, the Taoyuan City Government said that work and school would continue as usual.
It had been raining continually in Fusing since Wednesday night as the typhoon approached, possibly rendering the roads slippery.
Photo: CNA
As of 2:30pm yesterday, the Central Emergency Operation Center had recorded 250 cases of damage caused by the storm, 110 of which were fallen trees on roadsides and 46 involved infrastructure damage.
As of 3pm yesterday, 1,741 households had no power, including 1,730 in seven districts in New Taipei City and 11 in Yilan County’s Sansing Township (三星).
The typhoon also disrupted air travel, shipping and railway services across the nation. Eighty domestic and 46 international flights, as well as 44 ferry services, were canceled, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said.
As of 6pm, Khanun was centered 330km northeast of Taipei and was moving northeast at 8kph, Central Weather Bureau forecaster Hsu Chung-yi (徐仲毅) said.
The typhoon had weakened slightly and appeared to be spinning in place, with its radius briefly reaching the nation’s northeast coast, Hsu said.
Today, residents of mountainous areas in Kaohsiung and Taichung, as well as Miaoli, Nantou, Chiayi and Pingtung counties, should beware of damage caused by extremely heavy rainfall brought by a southwest wind.
The bureau forecast that the typhoon would be closest to Taiwan from last night to early this morning before moving north today, Hsu said, adding that it might lift the land alert this afternoon.
Winds on Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) and Green Island (綠島) could reach Level 11 or 12 on the Beaufort scale, while those on north and northeast coasts could reach Level 10 or 11, he said.
As of press time last night, the Kaohsiung City Government announced that school and work would be canceled today in Taoyuan (桃源), Maolin (茂林), Namasia (那瑪夏), Jiasian (甲仙) and Liouguei (六龜) districts, while the Taitung County Government canceled work and school on Orchid Island and Green Island.
Work and school are to resume today in Taipei, New Taipei City, Keelung and Yilan County.
CALL FOR SUPPORT: President William Lai called on lawmakers across party lines to ensure the livelihood of Taiwanese and that national security is protected President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday called for bipartisan support for Taiwan’s investment in self-defense capabilities at the christening and launch of two coast guard vessels at CSBC Corp, Taiwan’s (台灣國際造船) shipyard in Kaohsiung. The Taipei (台北) is the fourth and final ship of the Chiayi-class offshore patrol vessels, and the Siraya (西拉雅) is the Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) first-ever ocean patrol vessel, the government said. The Taipei is the fourth and final ship of the Chiayi-class offshore patrol vessels with a displacement of about 4,000 tonnes, Lai said. This ship class was ordered as a result of former president Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) 2018
‘SECRETS’: While saying China would not attack during his presidency, Donald Trump declined to say how Washington would respond if Beijing were to take military action US President Donald Trump said that China would not take military action against Taiwan while he is president, as the Chinese leaders “know the consequences.” Trump made the statement during an interview on CBS’ 60 Minutes program that aired on Sunday, a few days after his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in South Korea. “He [Xi] has openly said, and his people have openly said at meetings, ‘we would never do anything while President Trump is president,’ because they know the consequences,” Trump said in the interview. However, he repeatedly declined to say exactly how Washington would respond in
WARFARE: All sectors of society should recognize, unite, and collectively resist and condemn Beijing’s cross-border suppression, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng said The number of Taiwanese detained because of legal affairs by Chinese authorities has tripled this year, as Beijing intensified its intimidation and division of Taiwanese by combining lawfare and cognitive warfare, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) made the statement in response to questions by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Puma Shen (沈柏洋) about the government’s response to counter Chinese public opinion warfare, lawfare and psychological warfare. Shen said he is also being investigated by China for promoting “Taiwanese independence.” He was referring to a report published on Tuesday last week by China’s state-run Xinhua news agency,
‘NOT SUBORDINATE’: Only Taiwanese can decide the nation’s future, and people preserving their democratic way of life is not a provocation, President William Lai said Taiwan does not want China’s “one country, two systems,” and must uphold its freedom and democracy as well as resolve to defend itself, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, rejecting Beijing’s latest bid to bring the country under Chinese control. The president made the remarks while attending a commissioning ceremony for Taiwan’s first battalion of M1A2T Abrams tanks in Hsinchu County’s Hukou Township (湖口). The tanks are made by General Dynamics, a major US defense contractor. China this week said it “absolutely will not” rule out using force over Taiwan, striking a much tougher tone than a series of articles in state media
RSS