Taiwan helicopters pluck quake-stranded tourists to safety

HUALIEN, (AFP): Taiwan rescue helicopters flew sorties Saturday to pluck tourists to safety after a massive earthquake cut off roads and blocked tunnels, leaving hundreds stranded for days in the mountains.

At least 13 people were killed and more than 1,100 injured by the magnitude 7.4 quake that struck the island on Wednesday, with strict building codes and widespread disaster readiness credited with averting an even bigger catastrophe.

The quake caused massive landslides that blocked tunnels and long stretches of winding road that cut across the island from east to west, and also a coastal highway from north to south carved out of steep cliffs.

Authorities raised the death toll from 10 on Saturday, after confirming they had recovered bodies they first located on a hiking trail on Friday. At least six people remain unaccounted for. Hualien, the epicentre around 100 kilometres south of the capital Taipei, has been roiled by over 300 aftershocks, including one of magnitude 5.2 on Saturday morning.

But helicopters from the National Airborne Service Corps were flying into cut-off areas near the scenic Taroko National Park to pluck stranded visitors to safety.

"Priority was given to the elderly, the weak, women, children, and people with chronic diseases," said Taiwan news website ET Today.

Rescuers also airdropped boxes of food and supplies to a group of students, teachers and residents at an inaccessible elementary school.

Elsewhere, engineers were working around the clock to clear massive boulders from roads and tunnel entrances.

"Rescuers are not giving up," said Taiwan's vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim on Friday, calling them the "true heroes of a resilient Taiwan".

Wednesday's quake was the most serious in Taiwan since one of a magnitude of 7.6 hit the island in 1999.