The Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ office in Mumbai, India, remains in contact with the Indian Coast Guard’s District Headquarters No. 4 amid a search, including for two missing Taiwanese, after a container ship operated by Taiwan-based Wan Hai Lines caught fire off the west coast of southern India on Monday, ministry spokesman Hsiao Kuang-wei (蕭光偉) said yesterday.
Of the 22 crew members onboard the Wan Hai 503, 18 abandoned the ship and were rescued, but the remaining four people were missing after the incident near the port of Beypore, the company said in a statement.
The four missing are two Taiwanese, one from Indonesia and one from Myanmar, the Taipei Economic and Cultural Center in India said.
Photo: CNA
The Malayalam-language Kerala Kaumudi reported that the rescued crew members — including four Taiwanese — were escorted ashore by the Indian Navy.
The Indian Coast Guard and the Indian Navy had launched a search operation for those still missing, media reports said.
Indian media reported that the vessel was carrying highly explosive cargo, but the situation has yet to be clarified by the company.
In other news, Hsiao said that no Taiwanese have been arrested or reported injured during the protests against federal immigration raids in Los Angeles.
The ministry and Taiwan’s representative office in Los Angeles are monitoring the protests, which mainly took place in the downtown area and the city of Paramount, where few Taiwanese live, he said.
People visiting the representative office are not likely to be affected, as it is far from the protest areas, he said.
Hsiao called on Taiwanese to avoid protest sites and enforcement zones.
In case of an emergency, Taiwanese should call emergency services in the US on 911 or the office’s emergency hotline at 213-923-3591.
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
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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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