The families of the seven missing Taiwanese businessmen in Madagascar called off the aerial search effort yesterday after one Malagasy search crew member died and another was injured on duty, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
The families are offering a NT$100,000 (US$3,200) reward for locals who find any of the men alive and NT$20,000 if any are found dead. The figure is an astronomical amount for a country where the average daily income is less than US$0.40.
The ministry did not say who would pay the bills of the search mission that reportedly cost up to several thousand US dollars each hour and lasted nearly six days.
MOFA Spokesman Henry Chen (陳銘政) said the families of the victims had agreed to call off the aerial search mission because of persistent inclement weather.
A search team commissioned by Madagascar would continue until Antananarivo decided to terminate the efforts, Chen said, adding that MOFA has expressed condolences to the families of the Malagasy men who died and were injured on duty.
The two life vests found in the ocean by a fishing boat would be sent to Antananarivo to be verified if they were worn by any of missing men prior to their disappearance, Chen said, adding that the two representatives from the family and the two MOFA personnel would also leave St. Marie, the island where the boat apparently capsized last Friday.
The seven missing Taiwanese businessmen were on a commercial fishing grounds inspection trip along with one other Taiwanese national, Liu Shou-chih (劉守智), and a Chinese businessman, Li Bo (李波).
The bodies of Liu and Li were retrieved on Monday about 18km away from where the fishing boat apparently capsized. One Malagasy technician and a cook were successfully rescued but MOFA has been barred from questioning them.
WANG RELEASED: A police investigation showed that an organized crime group allegedly taught their clients how to pretend to be sick during medical exams Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) and 11 others were released on bail yesterday, after being questioned for allegedly dodging compulsory military service or forging documents to help others avoid serving. Wang, 33, was catapulted into stardom for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代). Lately, he has been focusing on developing his entertainment career in China. The New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office last month began investigating an organized crime group that is allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified documents. Police in New Taipei City Yonghe Precinct at the end of last month arrested the main suspect,
A cat named Mikan (蜜柑) has brought in revenue of more than NT$10 million (US$305,390) for the Kaohsiung MRT last year. Mikan, born on April 4, 2020, was a stray cat before being adopted by personnel of Kaohsiung MRT’s Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station. Mikan was named after a Japanese term for mandarin orange due to his color and because he looks like an orange when curled up. He was named “station master” of Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station in September 2020, and has since become famous. With Kaohsiung MRT’s branding, along with the release of a set of cultural and creative products, station master Mikan
LITTORAL REGIMENTS: The US Marine Corps is transitioning to an ‘island hopping’ strategy to counterattack Beijing’s area denial strategy The US Marine Corps (USMC) has introduced new anti-drone systems to bolster air defense in the Pacific island chain amid growing Chinese military influence in the region, The Telegraph reported on Sunday. The new Marine Air Defense Integrated System (MADIS) Mk 1 is being developed to counter “the growing menace of unmanned aerial systems,” it cited the Marine Corps as saying. China has constructed a powerful defense mechanism in the Pacific Ocean west of the first island chain by deploying weapons such as rockets, submarines and anti-ship missiles — which is part of its anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) strategy against adversaries — the
Eleven people, including actor Darren Wang (王大陸), were taken into custody today for questioning regarding the evasion of compulsory military service and document forgery, the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said. Eight of the people, including Wang, are suspected of evading military service, while three are suspected of forging medical documents to assist them, the report said. They are all being questioned by police and would later be transferred to the prosecutors’ office for further investigation. Three men surnamed Lee (李), Chang (張) and Lin (林) are suspected of improperly assisting conscripts in changing their military classification from “stand-by
RSS