Typhoon Chebi moved away from Taiwan yesterday and pounded China. The typhoon left five people dead, 28 missing and caused losses worth more than NT$136 million to the local agricultural industry, officials said.
Meanwhile, patrol boats were searching yesterday for a missing Belize-registered freighter and its 20 Chinese crew members after two were rescued, a day after the typhoon swept through the area, police said.
The crew of the 5,300-tonne Kuangyuan (廣源) reported by radio Saturday that the vessel was listing and its stern taking in water off the coast of Tainan before losing contact, police said.
Patrol boats found a trail of oil and three lifesaver jackets from the Kuangyuan, and police think the freighter, loaded with ore, may have sunk.
The coast guard found three life buoys and a large oil stain near the area.
The Coast Guard Administration sent helicopters and the navy also sent vessels to search the area, but only found an oil slick and three life buoys without any trace of the missing crew yesterday.
However, a Taiwan fisherman, while operating in an area between Chiayi and Yunlin, found a mainland fisherman, Chu Liwu (褚立武), caught in the oyster beds near Waishantingchou, off Yunlin County.
Chu, 33, was still conscious when he was rescued. He suffered from multiple bruises and was mildly dehydrated. He was rushed to the hospital for emergency treatment.
Doctors said that he had multiple cuts on both feet, but is otherwise uninjured.
Chen Lin (
According to initial estimates by the council, damage to the agricultural and farm sectors in six countries have topped NT$136 million as of noon yesterday, including NT$135 million worth of damage to agricultural and farm products, and NT$1 million and NT$900,000 worth of damage to paddy fields and livestock.
Weather officials said the typhoon was at 8am yesterday centered in the southern part of the eastern Chinese province of Zhejiang, 260km north of Matsu.
An official with the Central Weather Bureau said Chebi was moving north-northeast at an hourly speed of 37kmh.
Weathermen asked the public in central and southern Taiwan to heighten alertness against landslides and floods caused by torrential rains.
But the typhoon had already left a trail of victims and damaged property. The National Fire Administration said a man drowned while fishing outside Keelung City.
Another man was killed after he fell from the second floor of his two-story building on the tiny Chime Island in the Taiwan Strait.
A third man was killed when a rubber boat with six people on board overturned in the southeastern Taitung county. Five people were rescued. Rescue officials confirmed two people reported missing yesterday morning off Matsu were dead.
On Friday, a Taiwanese fishing boat with six crew members sank in Philippine territorial waters.
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