Taiwan earthquake: The mountain ‘rained rocks like bullets’ – survivor
Rescuers in Taiwan are working to reach more than 600 stranded people, a day after the island experienced its worst earthquake in 25 years.
One survivor has recounted how tremors unleashed rockslides “like bullets” around the coal mine he was working at.
The 7.4 magnitude earthquake hit near the eastern county of Hualien, killing nine and injuring more than 1,000.
Some stuck in tunnels and near a national park have been rescued by helicopters, but 34 are still missing.
The official number of people trapped or stranded rose considerably – from about 100 to 663 – on Thursday as people started getting phone signal back in the mountainous regions.
Almost all are guests and staff of a remote hotel who cannot leave because of damaged roads. Officials are now trying to work out the best way to get them out.
Food supplies have been air-dropped to dozens trapped in these areas, local reports say.
“The mountain started raining rocks like bullets, we had nowhere to escape to, everyone ran beside the sandbags for cover,” the survivor, identified by his surname Chu, told Taiwan’s Central News Agency.
Three of the nine who died were hikers on a trail leading towards Taroko National Park, named after a landmark gorge, just outside Hualien.
In Hualien city, the capital of the county where the earthquake struck, relief efforts are proceeding quickly, with workers using excavators and other heavy equipment to demolish several damaged buildings.
On Thursday morning, the BBC also witnessed relief workers removing huge boulders – the size of cars – that had fallen close to railway lines so as to get normal train services running again.
They are also using large amounts of gravel and rocks to shore up a 10-storey structure known as the Uranus building, which has been leaning downwards since the quake struck – to prevent it from falling over in case of another aftershock.
Local reports said one female teacher had died in the building when she returned to rescue her cat.
Read more on BBC
Disclaimer:
The Views,Comments, Opinions, Contributions and Statements expressed by Readers and Contributors on this website do not necessarily represent the views or policy of Wohonsem.com. Wohonsem.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us.
