Four sailors still missing from capsized freighter off Taiwan’s coast
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Three crew members were rescued from the sunken Tanzanian freighter on July 25.
PHOTO: EPA-EFE
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TAIPEI - Four sailors from a cargo ship that sank off the coast of Taiwan during Typhoon Gaemi were still missing on July 26, the authorities said, after finding a fourth survivor as well as the body of the freighter’s captain.
Stormy weather in the wake of the typhoon sank the Tanzania-flagged vessel Fu-Shun
Rescue efforts were hindered by terrible weather conditions, but by evening, three crew members were found on land, prompting rescue workers to expand their search in case the remaining six had managed to reach the shores of southern Kaohsiung.
On July 26, the Ocean Affairs Council said in a statement that a fourth survivor was found, while “a body was found on the beach” in Kaohsiung city.
The other surviving sailors identified the dead man “as the captain of Fu-Shun”, the council said, adding that four crew members of the ship were still missing and the search was ongoing. The National Fire Agency later confirmed that the fourth surviving crew member had swum ashore.
The Taiwanese authorities were also working to retrieve 79 crew members on board eight other cargo ships “stranded” off the island’s south-western coast.
“The rescue work is not over yet... all units continue to work hard,” Ms Kuan Bi-ling, head of the Ocean Affairs Council, said in a Facebook post on July 26.
She added that rescuers encountered 5m waves and strong gusts, making it challenging to get near the stranded ships.
But Ms Kuan clarified that “all people and ships are safe”.
Gaemi, which made landfall in Taiwan early on July 25, was the strongest storm to make a direct hit on the typhoon-prone island in eight years, officials from the weather administration said.
At least five people were killed, and hundreds were injured.
By the evening of July 25, the storm had moved to China, but heavy rain continued to batter Taiwan’s south-western coast on July 26, causing flash floods in the Yunlin, Chiayi and Tainan regions. AFP
