A cross-strait medical charter flight carrying 42 passengers yesterday arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport.
The flight, which departed from the Yanji Airport in China's Jilin Province, consisted of 14 Taiwanese tourists who had been injured in China, 12 of their family members and 16 medical attendants.
A bus carrying tourists from Taiwan slid off a mountain road in Jilin Province last Monday, killing two female passengers and injuring 14 others.
PHOTO: YAO KAI-SHIOU, TAIPEI TIMES
After a flight of about five hours via Hong Kong's airspace, the Trans Asia Airways airplane landed in Taiwan at 1:30pm.
All the injured were immediately transferred to Taipei's Wanfan Hospital.
Trans Asia Airways president Fan Chih-chiang (
The semi-official Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) said yesterday that the flight had been the result of a well-coordinated safety and rescue network.
SEF Secretary-General You Ying-lung (
"The successful initiation of this medical flight was made possible by cross-strait cooperation based on humanitarian principles. The government will use this model to assist Taiwanese nationals faced with similar situations," You said.
The first cross-strait medical charter flight embarked from Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, last Thursday, bearing a 70-year-old Taiwanese businessman who suffered from cerebral apoplexy on Sept. 8 in Guangzhou and who was in a critical condition after undergoing treatment in Dongguan.
The Mainland Affairs Council approved cross-strait flights for medical and humanitarian purposes in June.
Taiwan yesterday expelled four China Coast Guard vessels that entered Taiwan-controlled restricted waters off Lienchiang County (Matsu) shortly after the Chinese People’s Liberation Army announced the start of its “Joint Sword-2024B” drills around Taiwan. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said in a statement that it had detected two China Coast Guard ships west of Nangan Island (南竿) and another two north of Dongyin Island (東引) at 8am yesterday. After Chinese ships sailed into restricted waters off Matsu shortly afterward, the CGA’s Kinmen-Matsu-Penghu Branch deployed four patrol vessels to shadow and approach the vessels, it said. The incidents pushed up to 44 the number
Renovations on the B3 concourse of Taipei Main Station are to begin on Nov. 1, with travelers advised to use entrances near the Taiwan Railway or high-speed rail platforms or information counter to access the MRT’s Red Line. Construction is to be completed before the end of next year, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp said last week. To reduce the impact on travelers, the NT$95 million (US$2.95 million) project is to be completed in four stages, it said. In the first stage, the hall leading to the Blue Line near the art exhibition area is to be closed from Nov. 1 to the end
Taipei’s Ximending (西門町) shopping area welcomed the most international visitors, followed by Taipei 101, Songshan Cultural and Creative Park and Yangmingshan National Park (陽明山國家公園), a list of the city’s most popular tourist attractions published by the Taipei Department of Information and Tourism showed. As of August, 69.22 million people had visited Taipei’s main tourism spots, a 76 percent increase from 39.33 million in the same period last year, department data showed. Ximending had 20.21 million visitors, followed by Taipei 101 at 8.09 million, Songshan Cultural and Creative Park at 6.28 million, Yangmingshan at 4.51 million and the Red House Theater (西門紅樓) in
The government has issued a deportation order for a Spanish fugitive, ordering him to leave the country within 10 days, as he is wanted by European authorities for allegedly operating a car rental scam. National Immigration Agency (NIA) officials yesterday said Salvador Alejandro Llinas Onate, 48, had been notified that he must leave Taiwan, as he was wanted for committing serious crimes. The Spaniard has been indicted by Italian prosecutors for allegedly leading a 30 million euros (US$32.74 million) car rental scam and setting up a fraudulent company in Trento, Italy. The deportation order is based on Article 18 of
RSS