A third Taiwanese was confirmed killed by the tsunamis that battered Indian Ocean shorelines after a woman listed as missing in Thailand was found dead by her husband yesterday, a report said.
The body of 38-year-old Chiang Wan-ling (
Their six-year-old daughter survived the disaster by landing in a coconut tree that prevented her from being washed away. The girl returned to Taiwan last week while her father remained in Thailand to search for his wife.
The two other Taiwanese victims were also killed in Thailand when tsunamis triggered by a powerful earthquake hit the country.
As of yesterday, World Vision Taiwan has collected over NT$40 million in donations for South Asia tsunami relief efforts.
In order to increase relief funding, World Vision Taiwan has sought cooperation with convenience stores, online auction Web sites and Taiwanese artists.
Currently, World Vision Taiwan has five workers stationed in disaster-stricken areas in Indonesia, India and Sri Lanka.
According to information provided by workers in Pulau Nias, this island, west off Sumatra, was still feeling aftershocks and tsunami warnings were issued periodically along the coastline.
"International World Vision has pledged a total of US$50 million of donation for the tsunami relief effort in South Asia. This figure is the highest single donation for a disaster in World Vision's 54 years of history," said Hank Du (
STAY AWAY: An official said people should avoid disturbing snakes, as most do not actively attack humans, but would react defensively if threatened Taitung County authorities yesterday urged the public to stay vigilant and avoid disturbing snakes in the wild, following five reported snakebite cases in the county so far this year. Taitung County Fire Department secretary Lin Chien-cheng (林建誠) said two of the cases were in Donghe Township (東河) and involved the Taiwan habus, one person was bit by a Chinese pit viper near the South Link Railway and the remaining two were caused by unidentified snakes. He advised residents near fields to be cautious of snakes hiding in shady indoor areas, especially when entering or leaving their homes at night. In case of a
A tropical disturbance off the southeastern coast of the Philippines might become the first typhoon of the western Pacific typhoon season, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The system lacks a visible center and how it would develop is only likely to become clear on Sunday or Monday, the CWA said, adding that it was not yet possible to forecast the potential typhoon's effect on Taiwan. The American Meteorological Society defines a tropical disturbance as a system made up of showers and thunderstorms that lasts for at least 24 hours and does not have closed wind circulation.
ENERGY RESILIENCE: Although Alaska is open for investments, Taiwan is sourcing its gas from the Middle East, and the sea routes carry risks, Ho Cheng-hui said US government officials’ high-profile reception of a Taiwanese representative at the Alaska Sustainable Energy Conference indicated the emergence of an Indo-Pacific energy resilience alliance, an academic said. Presidential Office Secretary-General Pan Men-an (潘孟安) attended the conference in Alaska on Thursday last week at the invitation of the US government. Pan visited oil and gas facilities with senior US officials, including US Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, US Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy and US Senator Daniel Sullivan. Pan attending the conference on behalf of President William Lai (賴清德) shows a significant elevation in diplomatic representation,
Credit departments of farmers’ and fishers’ associations blocked a total of more than NT$180 million (US$6.01 million) from being lost to scams last year, National Police Agency (NPA) data showed. The Agricultural Finance Agency (AFA) said last week that staff of farmers’ and fishers’ associations’ credit departments are required to implement fraud prevention measures when they serve clients at the counter. They would ask clients about personal financial management activities whenever they suspect there might be a fraud situation, and would immediately report the incident to local authorities, which would send police officers to the site to help, it said. NPA data showed
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