The leaders of five Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)-controlled cities and counties yesterday said they are each donating one month’s income to the reconstruction efforts in the wake of a series of gas pipeline explosions that ripped through Greater Kaohsiung on Thursday night and on Friday morning last week, killing 28 people and injuring more than 300.
In a joint statement, Pingtung County Commissioner Tsao Chi-hung (曹啟鴻), Greater Tainan Mayor William Lai (賴清德), Chiayi County Commissioner Helen Chang (張花冠), Yunlin County Commissioner Su Chih-fen (蘇治芬) and Yilan County Commissioner Lin Tsung-hsien (林聰賢) pledged to give a month’s pay each to the recovery efforts and urged others to contribute to help affected residents resume their normal lives as quickly as possible.
The city and county leaders again expressed their condolences to the injured and the families of the people killed and urged the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT)-controlled central government to offer full support to Greater Kaohsiung.
They also said that they are confident that the reconstruction of the city will proceed smoothly under the leadership of Greater Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊), who is also a DPP member.
A total of 83,819 people in 32,968 households have been affected by the explosions that hit the Cianjhen (前鎮) and Lingya (苓雅) districts, according to figures compiled by the Central Emergency Operation Center.
As of yesterday, 28 people were confirmed dead, 305 injured and two missing after the explosions.
The blasts are believed to have been caused by a propene leak in an underground pipeline used by a petrochemical manufacturer.
A relatively large earthquake may strike within the next two weeks, following a magnitude 5.2 temblor that shook Taitung County this morning, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. An earthquake struck at 8:18am today 10.2km west of Taitung County Hall in Taitung City at a relatively shallow depth of 6.5km, CWA data showed. The largest intensity of 4 was felt in Taitung and Pingtung counties, which received an alert notice, while areas north of Taichung did not feel any shaking, the CWA said. The earthquake was the result of the collision between the Philippine Plate and the Eurasian Plate, the agency said, adding
Snow fell in the mountainous areas of northern, central and eastern Taiwan in the early hours of yesterday, as cold air currents moved south. In the northern municipality of Taoyuan, snow started falling at about 6am in Fusing District (復興), district head Su Tso-hsi (蘇佐璽) said. By 10am, Lalashan National Forest Recreation Area, as well as Hualing (華陵), Sanguang (三光) and Gaoyi (高義) boroughs had seen snowfall, Su said. In central Taiwan, Shei-Pa National Park in Miaoli County and Hehuanshan National Forest Recreation Area in Nantou County saw snowfall of 5cm and 6cm respectively, by 10am, staff at the parks said. It began snowing
HOLIDAY EXERCISE: National forest recreation areas from north to south offer travelers a wide choice of sights to connect with nature and enjoy its benefits Hiking is a good way to improve one’s health, the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency said, as it released a list of national forest recreation areas that travelers can visit during the Lunar New Year holiday. Taking a green shower of phytoncides in the woods could boost one’s immunity system and metabolism, agency Director-General Lin Hwa-ching (林華慶) cited a Japanese study as saying. For people visiting northern Taiwan, Lin recommended the Dongyanshan National Forest Recreation Area in Taoyuan’s Fusing District (復興). Once an important plantation in the north, Dongyanshan (東眼山) has a number of historic monuments, he said. The area is broadly covered by
COMMUNITY SPIRIT: As authorities were busy with post-typhoon cleanups elsewhere, residents cleaned fallen leaves and cut small fallen trees blocking the hiking trails All hiking trails damaged by Typhoon Kong-rey have been repaired and has reopened for people who want a refreshing hike in Taipei during the Lunar New Year holiday, a city official said. The Taipei Basin is known for its easily accessible hiking trails. It has more than 130 trails combined into the 92km-long Taipei Grand Trail, which was divided into seven major routes when it was launched by the Taipei City Government in 2018. Last year, a part of the sixth route of the Grand Trail collapsed due to Typhoon Kong-rey, which hit Taiwan in October. The damaged section belongs to one
RSS