After typhoon Toraji left Taiwan yesterday, rescue efforts continued for 108 people still missing as of press time yesterday and many others whose whereabouts were known but who remained stranded.
Fan Ming-kai (范明鎧), a resident of the Fenglin area of Hualien County, who survived a flood which destroyed his family's home Sunday night, spoke of his experience.
"The flood gushed into our house and the force of it swept me off my feet," Fan said. "I couldn't hold onto the bars on the window and was dragged along in the torrent of water into a nearby river. I continued to be swept along until I was stopped by a broken dike.
PHOTO: HSU PAI-YING, TAIPEI TIMES
"I kept hearing the roar of the river and collided with rocks in the water along the way," Fan said.
Yesterday morning, one of Fan's friends discovered him in a tree, which he had climbed after hitting the dike. He then asked rescuers to search for his family.
His father, Fan Shih-hsien (范思賢), 60, and brother-in-law Hsu Chin-cheng (許金城), 32, are both known to have died in the mudslide. Hsu and his wife Fan Ming-chih (范明之) lived in Taipei but they had visited Hualien to spend the weekend with Fan's family. Fan's mother and three siblings are missing.
Rescuers have been kept busy throughout the nation. "We do not know the total number of people stranded. There are just too many cases," said a fireman from Hualien County's fire department.
The Nantou County Fire department estimated at 11pm yesterday that over 10,000 people remained stranded in the county and that 30 people were still in need of rescue by helicopter.
The Kaohsiung County fire department said Kaohsiung firemen had rescued 52 county residents as of yesterday evening.
"Most were stranded on sandbanks or low-lying ground because of rising floodwaters," said Huang Jue-hung (
Fast-moving waters prevented rescuers from reaching victims. "We had to choose rescuers with boating experience to pick up some victims," Huang said.
Others, who were impossible to reach with boats, had to be rescued by helicopter.
A fireman surnamed Yang (
Also stranded was Nantou County Commissioner Peng Pai-hsien (
The group had been discussing a project for the mental rehabilitation of victims of the 921 earthquake.
Some Nantou residents complained about the late announcement of cancellation of work at 8am yesterday, which resulted in them becoming stranded in the typhoon on the way to their workplaces.
Peng said the Central Weather Bureau's forecast indicated that the typhoon's threat to Nantou County had not reached the level at which work would be canceled.
"I made the decision when I saw mudslides pouring into the hotel's lobby at 7am," he said.
Peng and his group were rescued late last night.
Taiwanese Olympic badminton men’s doubles gold medalist Wang Chi-lin (王齊麟) and his new partner, Chiu Hsiang-chieh (邱相榤), clinched the men’s doubles title at the Yonex Taipei Open yesterday, becoming the second Taiwanese team to win a title in the tournament. Ranked 19th in the world, the Taiwanese duo defeated Kang Min-hyuk and Ki Dong-ju of South Korea 21-18, 21-15 in a pulsating 43-minute final to clinch their first doubles title after teaming up last year. Wang, the men’s doubles gold medalist at the 2020 and 2024 Olympics, partnered with Chiu in August last year after the retirement of his teammate Lee Yang
FALSE DOCUMENTS? Actor William Liao said he was ‘voluntarily cooperating’ with police after a suspect was accused of helping to produce false medical certificates Police yesterday questioned at least six entertainers amid allegations of evasion of compulsory military service, with Lee Chuan (李銓), a member of boy band Choc7 (超克7), and actor Daniel Chen (陳大天) among those summoned. The New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office in January launched an investigation into a group that was allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified medical documents. Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) has been accused of being one of the group’s clients. As the investigation expanded, investigators at New Taipei City’s Yonghe Precinct said that other entertainers commissioned the group to obtain false documents. The main suspect, a man surnamed
DEMOGRAPHICS: Robotics is the most promising answer to looming labor woes, the long-term care system and national contingency response, an official said Taiwan is to launch a five-year plan to boost the robotics industry in a bid to address labor shortages stemming from a declining and aging population, the Executive Yuan said yesterday. The government approved the initiative, dubbed the Smart Robotics Industry Promotion Plan, via executive order, senior officials told a post-Cabinet meeting news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s population decline would strain the economy and the nation’s ability to care for vulnerable and elderly people, said Peter Hong (洪樂文), who heads the National Science and Technology Council’s (NSTC) Department of Engineering and Technologies. Projections show that the proportion of Taiwanese 65 or older would
The government is considering polices to increase rental subsidies for people living in social housing who get married and have children, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday. During an interview with the Plain Law Movement (法律白話文) podcast, Cho said that housing prices cannot be brought down overnight without affecting banks and mortgages. Therefore, the government is focusing on providing more aid for young people by taking 3 to 5 percent of urban renewal projects and zone expropriations and using that land for social housing, he said. Single people living in social housing who get married and become parents could obtain 50 percent more
RSS