Disaster centers have been established in 30 city and county districts in the wake of yesterday's earthquake, while the military has sent a contingent of 5,000 soldiers to areas hit hardest to help with rescue efforts.
However, officials said there were still shortages of food, shelter, morgue space and ice to help preserve bodies of those killed in the massive quake.
Officials at Taichung Veteran's Hospital said it had admitted more than 100 people, most of whom arrived by helicopter. Hu Wei-shung (
PHOTO: CHIANG YING-YING, TAIPEI TIMES
"Most of them suffered serious fractures and head injuries, while some of them had critical burns covering over 60 percent of their bodies. We are running out of beds and spaces in our hospitals," the deputy director of the nursing department at Taichung's Jen-ai hospital said.
Chao said the hospital had set up a first-aid station in front of the building.
"There are more patients waiting to be cared for at our branch in Tali (
The situation in some areas of Taichung County and Nantou County was serious, especially where traffic conditions or road problems made transportation difficult.
"There were no telephones, no electricity, no water, not even radios to contact people inside these areas," said a relief worker, adding that around 1,000 members of a rescue force were working in Taichung County and that they were expecting reinforcements soon.
The Defense Ministry had so far sent more than 5,000 soldiers and 10 medical teams to the major disaster areas throughout the country, with 12 helicopters dispatched to deliver food to the worst affected areas.
The ministry has set up six rescue centers in Taipei, Taichung, Changhua, Nantou and Yunlin. A temporary shelter at Nantou Coun-ty Stadium was set up and was accommodating some 1,000 people.
According to police, Chungliao village, Chichi village, Puli village in Nantou County and Taichung County recorded the most deaths and casualties.
Hundreds of survivors in those villages could only sit in front of wrecked homes and wait for help. Death and destruction was everywhere.
"There was not even enough cloth and boards to cover the dead bodies," a local resident was quoted as saying on a TV news program.
Local residents said they were also in urgent need of ice and containers to take care of the dead.
Taichung City Mayor Chang Wen-ying (
The Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu-Chi Association (慈濟功德會) set up relief centers in Taipei and Taichung, with over 5,000 tents, sleeping bags and cushions sent to disaster areas by yesterday evening.
DEATH THREAT: A MAC official said that it has urged Beijing to avoid creating barriers that would impede exchanges across the Strait, but it continues to do so People should avoid unnecessary travel to China after Beijing issued 22 guidelines allowing its courts to try in absentia and sentence to death “Taiwan independence separatists,” the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday as it raised its travel alert for China, including Hong Kong and Macau, to “orange.” The guidelines published last week “severely threaten the personal safety of Taiwanese traveling to China, Hong Kong and Macau,” MAC Deputy Minister and spokesman Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) told a news conference in Taipei. “Following a comprehensive assessment, the government considers it necessary to elevate the travel alert to orange from yellow,” Liang said. Beijing has
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) yesterday said that the Chinese Communist Party was planning and implementing “major” reforms, ahead of a political conclave that is expected to put economic recovery high on the agenda. Chinese policymakers have struggled to reignite growth since late 2022, when restrictions put in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic were lifted. The world’s second-largest economy is beset by a debt crisis in the property sector, persistently low consumption and high unemployment among young people. Policymakers “are planning and implementing major measures to further deepen reform in a comprehensive manner,” Xi said in a speech at the Great Hall
CIVIL DEFENSE: More reservists in alternative service would help establish a sound civil defense system for use in wartime and during natural disasters, Kuma Academy’s CEO said While a total of 120,000 reservists are expected to be called up for alternative reserve drills this year, compared with the 6,505 drilled last year, the number has been revised to 58,000 due to a postponed training date, Deputy Minster of the Interior Ma Shih-yuan (馬士元) said. In principle, the ministry still aims to call up 120,000 reservists for alternative reserve drills next year, he said, but the actual number would not be decided later until after this year’s evaluation. The increase follows a Legislative Yuan request that the Ministry of the Interior address low recruitment rates, which it made while reviewing
SOLUTIONS NEEDED: Taiwan must attract about 400,000 to 500,000 skilled foreign workers due to population decline, the minister of economic affairs said in Washington President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration is considering a plan to import labor to deal with an impending shortage of engineers and other highly skilled workers, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said in Washington on Tuesday. Kuo was leading a delegation attending the SelectUSA Investment Summit. Taiwan must attract about 400,000 to 500,000 skilled foreign workers for high-end manufacturing jobs by 2040, he said. Ministry of Economic Affairs officials are still calculating the precise number of workers that are needed, as it works on loosening immigration restrictions and creating incentives, Kuo said. Taiwanese firms operating factories in the US and other countries would