Thirty-six people, including 13 migrant workers in Taichung, were rescued at the weekend, after they were trapped by river surges caused by heavy rainfall, local authorities said.
The migrant workers were rescued from a sandbar in the Dadu River (大肚溪) in Taichung, where they spent the night while on a fishing trip after encountering the unexpected surge early yesterday, the Taichung City Fire Bureau said.
The bureau dispatched first responders with fire engines and boats after receiving a report about the group being trapped at 5:20am, it said.
Photo copied by Chen Chien-chih, Taipei Times
All 13 workers were brought to safety at 7:13am, it said.
In Hualien County, 23 people also reported being trapped on one side of the Baliwan River (八里灣溪) during a hiking trip on Baliwanshan (八里灣山) at about 5pm on Saturday, an official at the county’s Fire Bureau said yesterday.
The trip to the summit of the 992m mountain, known as Cilangasan to Amis, involves crossing the river several times.
The rescue team delivered food and water using a rope, while waiting for the water level to subside, said Jian Hong-cheng (簡弘丞), head of the Hualien County Fire Department’s search-and-rescue unit.
The 23 hikers returned to safety sometime after 11pm on Saturday, Jian said.
The Central Weather Administration has issued heavy rain alerts since late on Friday, as a rain-bearing weather front passes through Taiwan during the plum rain season from May to June.
The start of the plum rain season also marked the beginning of an about seven-month-long flood season in Taiwan, the Water Resources Agency said.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a "tsunami watch" alert after a magnitude 8.7 earthquake struck off the Kamchatka Peninsula in northeastern Russia earlier in the morning. The quake struck off the east coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula at 7:25am (Taiwan time) at a depth of about 19km, the CWA said, citing figures from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. The CWA's Seismological Center said preliminary assessments indicate that a tsunami could reach Taiwan's coastal areas by 1:18pm today. The CWA urged residents along the coast to stay alert and take necessary precautions as waves as high as 1m could hit the southeastern
FINAL COUNTDOWN: About 50,000 attended a pro-recall rally yesterday, while the KMT and the TPP plan to rally against the recall votes today Democracy activists, together with arts and education representatives, yesterday organized a motorcade, while thousands gathered on Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei in the evening in support of tomorrow’s recall votes. Recall votes for 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers and suspended Hsinchu City mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) are to be held tomorrow, while recall votes for seven other KMT lawmakers are scheduled for Aug. 23. The afternoon motorcade was led by the Spring Breeze Culture and Arts Foundation, the Tyzen Hsiao Foundation and the Friends of Lee Teng-hui Association, and was joined by delegates from the Taiwan Statebuilding Party and the Taiwan Solidarity
Instead of threatening tariffs on Taiwan-made chips, the US should try to reinforce cooperation with Taiwan on semiconductor development to take on challenges from the People’s Republic of China (PRC), a Taiwanese think tank said. The administration of US President Donald Trump has threatened to impose across-the-board import duties of 32 percent on Taiwan-made goods and levy a separate tariff on semiconductors, which Taiwan is hoping to avoid. The Research Institute for Democracy, Society, and Emerging Technology (DSET), a National Science and Technology Council think tank, said that US efforts should focus on containing China’s semiconductor rise rather than impairing Taiwan. “Without
The National Museum of Taiwan Literature is next month to hold an exhibition in Osaka, Japan, showcasing the rich and unique history of Taiwanese folklore and literature. The exhibition, which is to run from Aug. 10 to Aug. 20 at the city’s Central Public Hall, is part of the “We Taiwan” at Expo 2025 series, highlighting Taiwan’s cultural ties with the international community, National Museum of Taiwan Literature director Chen Ying-fang (陳瑩芳) said. Folklore and literature, among Taiwan’s richest cultural heritages, naturally deserve a central place in the global dialogue, Chen said. Taiwan’s folklore would be immediately apparent at the entrance of the
RSS