'Not giving up': Taiwan rescuers race against time to save missing, stranded quake victims

HUALIEN, Taiwan – Rescue efforts are still under way to reach some 340 people who remain stranded in the mountains in rural Hualien county, three days after Taiwan’s strongest earthquake in 25 years toppled buildings and triggered landslides.

The authorities have said that all of those stranded are judged to be safe with access to food and water, though they were cut off after massive boulders damaged roads and blocked tunnels.

Meanwhile, rescuers are racing against time amid constant aftershocks and poor weather conditions to locate six missing people, including a Singaporean couple. The two have not been seen since disembarking from a tour bus in the county’s Taroko Gorge on the morning of the quake on April 3.

In a statement on April 6, Taiwan’s Immigration Agency said the authorities were in contact with the couple’s families.

The death toll from the 7.4-magnitude earthquake, which struck at around 8am in the waters off the eastern coastal county, rose to 13 after three bodies were found on a walking trail. More than 1,000 others were injured.

On April 6, helicopters from the National Airborne Service Corps flew into cut-off areas of the national park to airlift dozens of stranded tourists to safety.

They include those who had been staying at the luxury Silks Place Taroko hotel, located deep within Taroko Gorge.

“The subsequent aftershocks were very large and serious,” a pastor identified only as Mr Zhou told reporters upon arriving at the gorge’s rescue command centre after he was rescued. “I felt very nervous when I was sleeping.”

The centre was abuzz with activity when The Straits Times visited on April 6, with rescue workers from multiple counties setting up work stations and conducting initial health checks for