Mainland bus missing as Megi rains lash Taiwan
01:48 UTC+8 October 23, 2010
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Print Edition
A BUS carrying 19 Chinese mainland tourists plus their tour guide and driver and two crew members from another bus of mainland visitors were missing last night as record rains from Typhoon Megi caused massive mud and rockslides in Taiwan.
Five other mainland tourists were injured when their vehicle was caught up in rockslides.
Seven people died and another two went missing when a Buddhist temple was buried by a mudslide.
Overall, 25 people were missing in Taiwan as the typhoon swept toward southern parts of Chinese mainland, where landfall was expected this morning.
Megi dumped a record 114 centimeters of rain in Taiwan's Ilan County over 48 hours. It had winds of 145kph and was about 440 kilometers southeast of Hong Kong last night, the Hong Kong Observatory said.
Seven people were killed at the White Cloud Temple in Suao City along the eastern coast of the island when a mudslide buried the building, Taiwan cable TV stations reported. Rescuers were trying to dig out two other people, Ilan County chief Lin Tsong-hsien said.
Two buses carrying mainland tourists were on a 10-kilometer stretch of a coastal highway in Ilan that was hit by at least seven rockslides on Thursday night, authorities said. Nineteen people on one bus were rescued - five with light to moderate injuries. However, a Taiwan driver and a mainland tour guide from the bus are still missing, officials said.
There have been no contact with the driver, tour guide and 19 tourists aboard the other bus. The tourists are from Zhuhai City in Guangdong Province, Zhuhai's tourism department said.
TV news reported a 500-meter stretch of the highway had collapsed. The rockslides trapped about 30 vans, buses and cars, officials said.
Helicopters were searching for the missing bus and 340 other travelers cut off by the rockslides. Those travelers were not in any immediate danger, officials said.
About 200 of the travelers are from the mainland.
The mainland-based Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait called on Taiwan authorities to "make all-out efforts" to save stranded mainland tourists.
The storm dumped heavy rains throughout Taiwan, but Ilan, about 150 kilometers southeast of Taipei, was the hardest hit. Authorities said more than 2,500 residents had been evacuated and farmland was under meters of water.
Earlier this week, Megi killed more than two dozen people and damaged thousands of homes in the northern Philippines. The storm also forced 55,000 Filipinos from their homes and caused about US$175 million in damage.
Megi was expected to hit the mainland's Guangdong and Fujian provinces by today, meteorologists said.
In Fujian, authorities said 161,800 people had been evacuated to safer places.
An official in Guangdong's Shantou City said fishermen were told to return to ports and authorities designated some 200 buildings in the city as emergency shelters.
"This kind of strong typhoon is very rare for this season in Shantou. We are treating it as a 'super strong typhoon' and making our preparations accordingly," said a relief official.
Hong Kong's main port remained partially shut, with leading port operator Hongkong International Terminals halting the processing of containers.
Hong Kong Observatory canceled all warning signals yesterday evening, as Megi weakened.
According to the bulletin issued at 8:40pm, the typhoon was centered about 440 kilometers east of Hong Kong.
In Vietnam, the death toll from severe flooding in four central provinces climbed to 75, including 14 victims from a bus swept off a road by strong currents, with six passengers still missing, disaster officials said yesterday.
While Megi bypassed Vietnam, the country's central region was pummeled by 140 centimeters of rain over the past week, submerging nearly 280,000 houses and forcing more than 170,000 villagers from their homes.
Meanwhile, another storm, Cyclone Giri, was spinning in the Bay of Bengal and likely to make landfall today in western Myanmar.
Five other mainland tourists were injured when their vehicle was caught up in rockslides.
Seven people died and another two went missing when a Buddhist temple was buried by a mudslide.
Overall, 25 people were missing in Taiwan as the typhoon swept toward southern parts of Chinese mainland, where landfall was expected this morning.
Megi dumped a record 114 centimeters of rain in Taiwan's Ilan County over 48 hours. It had winds of 145kph and was about 440 kilometers southeast of Hong Kong last night, the Hong Kong Observatory said.
Seven people were killed at the White Cloud Temple in Suao City along the eastern coast of the island when a mudslide buried the building, Taiwan cable TV stations reported. Rescuers were trying to dig out two other people, Ilan County chief Lin Tsong-hsien said.
Two buses carrying mainland tourists were on a 10-kilometer stretch of a coastal highway in Ilan that was hit by at least seven rockslides on Thursday night, authorities said. Nineteen people on one bus were rescued - five with light to moderate injuries. However, a Taiwan driver and a mainland tour guide from the bus are still missing, officials said.
There have been no contact with the driver, tour guide and 19 tourists aboard the other bus. The tourists are from Zhuhai City in Guangdong Province, Zhuhai's tourism department said.
TV news reported a 500-meter stretch of the highway had collapsed. The rockslides trapped about 30 vans, buses and cars, officials said.
Helicopters were searching for the missing bus and 340 other travelers cut off by the rockslides. Those travelers were not in any immediate danger, officials said.
About 200 of the travelers are from the mainland.
The mainland-based Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait called on Taiwan authorities to "make all-out efforts" to save stranded mainland tourists.
The storm dumped heavy rains throughout Taiwan, but Ilan, about 150 kilometers southeast of Taipei, was the hardest hit. Authorities said more than 2,500 residents had been evacuated and farmland was under meters of water.
Earlier this week, Megi killed more than two dozen people and damaged thousands of homes in the northern Philippines. The storm also forced 55,000 Filipinos from their homes and caused about US$175 million in damage.
Megi was expected to hit the mainland's Guangdong and Fujian provinces by today, meteorologists said.
In Fujian, authorities said 161,800 people had been evacuated to safer places.
An official in Guangdong's Shantou City said fishermen were told to return to ports and authorities designated some 200 buildings in the city as emergency shelters.
"This kind of strong typhoon is very rare for this season in Shantou. We are treating it as a 'super strong typhoon' and making our preparations accordingly," said a relief official.
Hong Kong's main port remained partially shut, with leading port operator Hongkong International Terminals halting the processing of containers.
Hong Kong Observatory canceled all warning signals yesterday evening, as Megi weakened.
According to the bulletin issued at 8:40pm, the typhoon was centered about 440 kilometers east of Hong Kong.
In Vietnam, the death toll from severe flooding in four central provinces climbed to 75, including 14 victims from a bus swept off a road by strong currents, with six passengers still missing, disaster officials said yesterday.
While Megi bypassed Vietnam, the country's central region was pummeled by 140 centimeters of rain over the past week, submerging nearly 280,000 houses and forcing more than 170,000 villagers from their homes.
Meanwhile, another storm, Cyclone Giri, was spinning in the Bay of Bengal and likely to make landfall today in western Myanmar.
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