The number of injured after the earthquake in Taiwan has risen above 1000

Commercial presentation Update: 04/03/2024 17:54
Issued by: 04/03/2024, 05:11

Taipei/Tokyo/Prague – The number of injured after the worst earthquake in the last quarter of a century in Taiwan continues to increase. According to authorities, 1,011 people were injured. So far, nine people are known to be dead, several dozen people are still missing, the AP agency reported.

Rescuers continue to work and the number of people who need medical help is also increasing. Dozens of workers were trapped in quarries and some residents were climbing out of the windows of damaged buildings. The local fire department reports nine victims, some of whom lost their lives on the street or in the tunnels.

The earthquake, which injured at least 1,011 people, was centered near the port of Chualien on Taiwan’s east coast. At the site, some buildings were leaning at unnatural angles because their ground floors had been completely crushed. In the capital, Taipei, 150 kilometers away, tiles were falling from older buildings and schools were evacuating pupils and equipping them with helmets. The tremors hit the entire island and destroyed many buildings.

Rescuers are now searching for people who could be trapped under the rubble in Chualien and using excavators to stabilize damaged buildings, the AP agency writes. The number of people missing, trapped or stranded often changed as authorities learned of more injured people and tried to find and free them. According to the National Fire Agency, about 70 workers were believed to be buried in two quarries. However, it turned out that most of them were safe, the rubble just cut off their access route.

Taiwanese authorities earlier said they had lost contact with 50 hotel staff who were traveling in two minibuses to the accommodation facility in Taroko Gorge National Park. Three of them managed to walk to the hotel, the rest are still missing.

The earthquake had a magnitude of 7.4, according to the US Geological Survey, and the Taiwan Earthquake Monitoring Agency put it at 7.2.

The Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs has no news about affected Czechs. There are 88 Czech citizens registered in Taiwan in the Drozd travel system.

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