Grim discovery in bus search
By Debby Wu |
October 26, 2010, Tuesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
RESCUERS rappelled down a cliff yesterday trying to trace 20 Chinese mainland tourists whose bus is believed to have tumbled off a coastal road in Taiwan as Typhoon Megi lashed east Asia last week.
Rescuers said they have found one body and some body parts in the area, but no definitive identifications had yet been made. Debris from the bus found along the rocky slope suggests the vehicle may have fallen off the road and into the sea more than 300 meters below. Rescuers searched for victims in the water.
Relatives of the missing tourists, from the southern city of Zhuhai, have blamed a Taiwanese travel agency - Taipei-based Chuang Yi Travel - for failing to take necessary precautions when Typhoon Megi passed by the island last Thursday.
Chuang Yi was not available for comment.
Despite record rains and the road's vulnerability to mudslides, Taiwan officials failed to close the highway that winds precariously along the northeastern coast. Multiple mudslides caused by the typhoon stranded vehicles carrying about 400 people, who were eventually rescued.
Megi took at least 28 lives in the Philippines and 12 in Taiwan, including nine buried alive when a mudslide obliterated a Buddhist temple in Ilan County, which sustained a record 114 centimeters of rain.
Megi dumped up to 33 centimeters of rain on coastal villages and caused major damage to fishing boats and shellfish beds in Fujian Province. It brought economic losses of nearly 2.8 billion yuan (US$411.7 million) to Fujian, Xinhua news agency reported yesterday.
It destroyed 36,050 hectares of crops and 530 houses and caused 253 enterprises to suspend production.
Mainland tourism to Taiwan has exploded since Taiwan leader Ma Ying-jeou took office more than two years ago. An average of 2,500 mainland visitors arrive daily.
Rescuers said they have found one body and some body parts in the area, but no definitive identifications had yet been made. Debris from the bus found along the rocky slope suggests the vehicle may have fallen off the road and into the sea more than 300 meters below. Rescuers searched for victims in the water.
Relatives of the missing tourists, from the southern city of Zhuhai, have blamed a Taiwanese travel agency - Taipei-based Chuang Yi Travel - for failing to take necessary precautions when Typhoon Megi passed by the island last Thursday.
Chuang Yi was not available for comment.
Despite record rains and the road's vulnerability to mudslides, Taiwan officials failed to close the highway that winds precariously along the northeastern coast. Multiple mudslides caused by the typhoon stranded vehicles carrying about 400 people, who were eventually rescued.
Megi took at least 28 lives in the Philippines and 12 in Taiwan, including nine buried alive when a mudslide obliterated a Buddhist temple in Ilan County, which sustained a record 114 centimeters of rain.
Megi dumped up to 33 centimeters of rain on coastal villages and caused major damage to fishing boats and shellfish beds in Fujian Province. It brought economic losses of nearly 2.8 billion yuan (US$411.7 million) to Fujian, Xinhua news agency reported yesterday.
It destroyed 36,050 hectares of crops and 530 houses and caused 253 enterprises to suspend production.
Mainland tourism to Taiwan has exploded since Taiwan leader Ma Ying-jeou took office more than two years ago. An average of 2,500 mainland visitors arrive daily.
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