Two men died after a sedan they were traveling in was hit by rocks on a county road in Miaoli County yesterday, the local fire bureau said.
The 5th Fire Control and Rescue Group of the Miaoli County Fire Bureau said it received a report at 3:19 pm yesterday about a red sedan being crushed by a rockfall on a section of County Highway 62-1 in Taian Township (泰安) near Ching An Elementary School.
First responders arrived at the scene and spotted two men trapped and unresponsive in the badly damaged vehicle, half of which was under a huge boulder, the fire bureau said.
Photo courtesy of a member of the public via CNA
A man in the driver’s seat was pulled out of the car first, but the 59-year-old man identified by his surnamed Tu (涂) was without vital signs and later pronounced dead at Da Shuen Hospital, the fire bureau said.
The man in the passenger seat next to the driver suffered serious head injuries and was apparently dead at the scene, it said.
Meanwhile, Miaoli County Police Bureau said the identity of the second man has yet to be confirmed.
According to Taian Township chief Chen Chi-chi (陳吉 基), the deadly incident occurred following the return of sunny weather over the last two days, after the mountainous area was inundated with heavy rain for most of the past month.
The Miaoli County Transportation and Public Works Department has urged road users to exercise extra caution, as several days of rain have increased the risk of rockfalls -- especially along County Highway 62, which leads to the popular Tai’an Hot Springs tourist attraction.
Rockfalls are quite rare along County Highway 62-1, the department said, but road users should pay close attention when traveling to and from the mountainous area.
Eight Chinese naval vessels and 24 military aircraft were detected crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait between 6am yesterday and 6am today, the Ministry of National Defense said this morning. The aircraft entered Taiwan’s northern, central, southwestern and eastern air defense identification zones, the ministry said. The armed forces responded with mission aircraft, naval vessels and shore-based missile systems to closely monitor the situation, it added. Eight naval vessels, one official ship and 36 aircraft sorties were spotted in total, the ministry said.
INCREASED CAPACITY: The flights on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays would leave Singapore in the morning and Taipei in the afternoon Singapore Airlines is adding four supplementary flights to Taipei per week until May to meet increased tourist and business travel demand, the carrier said on Friday. The addition would raise the number of weekly flights it operates to Taipei to 18, Singapore Airlines Taiwan general manager Timothy Ouyang (歐陽漢源) said. The airline has recorded a steady rise in tourist and business travel to and from Taipei, and aims to provide more flexible travel arrangements for passengers, said Ouyang, who assumed the post in July last year. From now until Saturday next week, four additional flights would depart from Singapore on Monday, Wednesday, Friday
The Ministry of National Defense yesterday reported the return of large-scale Chinese air force activities after their unexplained absence for more than two weeks, which had prompted speculation regarding Beijing’s motives. China usually sends fighter jets, drones and other military aircraft around the nation on a daily basis. Interruptions to such routine are generally caused by bad weather. The Ministry of National Defense said it had detected 26 Chinese military aircraft in the Taiwan Strait over the previous 24 hours. It last reported that many aircraft on Feb. 25, when it spotted 30 aircraft, saying Beijing was carrying out another “joint combat
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) today said that if South Korea does not reply appropriately to its request to correct Taiwan’s name on its e-Arrival card system before March 31, it would take corresponding measures to alter how South Korea is labeled on the online Taiwan Arrival Card system. South Korea’s e-Arrival card system lists Taiwan as “China (Taiwan)” in the “point of departure” and “next destination” fields. The ministry said that it changed the nationality for South Koreans on Taiwan’s Alien Resident Certificates from “Korea” to “South Korea” on March 1, in a gesture of goodwill and based on the
RSS