Rescuers free people from cave
TAIWAN QUAKE: HUNDREDS ARE STILL STRANDED
At least 10 killed, over 1 000 injured, says disaster agency.
Nine people were freed from a winding cave in Taiwan’s mountainous east, while two others were located but feared dead, as rescuers pressed on with their search yesterday for those still missing after the island’s biggest earthquake in 25 years.
The official death toll from Wednesday’s 7.4-magnitude quake still stood at 10, but the government in Hualien county, the hardest-hit area, said two more people on a hiking trail were found with “no signs of life”, though their deaths could not be immediately verified.
“Currently, the two people seen at the scene cannot be identified because they are buried too deep and have not been completely dug out,” the national disaster agency said.
As of yesterday, hundreds of people were still stranded around the mountains that flank the county, with roads blocked off by landslides and rockfalls. However, most were known to be safe as rescuers deployed helicopters, drones and smaller teams with dogs to reach them.
The county government said rescuers had found nine people alive in a cave popular with tourists called the Tunnel of Nine Turns.
The national disaster agency said 10 people had been killed and 1 106 injured.
More than 700 were stranded but accounted for, while authorities had lost contact with 18.
Rescuers set off early yesterday to airdrop boxes of food and supplies to a group of students, teachers, residents and some tourists stuck at an elementary school that was inaccessible.
Nine “disaster-hit” people were also airlifted out from a luxury hotel, the Silks Place Taroko, that had converted its parking lot into a makeshift helicopter pad.
One of the places cut off was a youth hostel, where a staffer said more than 50 people – including a Briton and four Germans – were stuck waiting for roads to be cleared. “We are all safe and have enough supplies. The damaged roads are being repaired,” the staffer surnamed Lin said.
In Taiwan’s north, life continued as normal, though remnants of the quake damage could still be seen.
One sky train rail in New Taipei City appeared to have been dislodged, with engineers and welders working to fix the line, while alleys around Taipei where debris was still falling were cordoned off.
The quake was the most serious since a magnitude-7.6 seism hit the island in 1999.