Taiwan Today

U.S. civil rights leader Rev. Jesse Jackson praised the volunteer efforts of Taiwan rescue and relief teams in quake-stricken Haiti Jan. 20. During his tour of the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince, Jackson paid a visit to the site of a school building that collapsed during last week’s temblor where Taiwan’s second search and rescue team has been looking for survivors in the rubble. Speaking at the site, Jackson said that he has been deeply moved by the spirit of charity displayed by people around the world in response to the natural disaster that devastated the Caribbean island nation. Although Asia is so far away from Haiti, the people of the continent have contributed so much to the relief effort, Jackson noted. Ever since the first mainland Chinese relief plane arrived in Haiti, the people of Taiwan, the mainland and South Korea have cooperated in the relief effort, transcending their political differences in the process, he said. Now is a time for building bridges, a time for reconstruction and a time for healing wounds, Jackson stated. “We have seen our commonality in this disaster, because such tragedies could strike anywhere, including mainland China, Taiwan and South Korea,” he pointed out. Nobody can predict when natural disasters will occur, but when such tragedies do happen, “we must respond to them with the spirit of humanity,” Jackson stressed. Taiwan’s second search and rescue team continued with its efforts to find survivors at the school Jan. 20. The group was jointly formed by the Red Cross Society of the Republic of China, the Taipei City International Search and Rescue Team, and the Tri-Service General Hospital. Besides searching for survivors, the team’s mission also includes providing medical treatment to quake victims. While the team was working with a Mexican search and rescue squad at the site Jan. 19, a pair of trained dogs participating in the search discovered signs of life in the rubble. The rescue workers stepped up their efforts for the rest of the day and returned to the site in the early morning hours of Jan. 20 to resume the search. Kuo En-shu, deputy captain of the Taiwan team, noted that the rescuers believed that a spiral staircase within the school may have provided several possible spaces for those trapped inside to survive the building’s collapse. He said rescuers gained entry into the collapsed four-storey building by drilling in through the roof. After boring through the roof of the third floor, the Mexican team determined that there were no longer any signs of life. The Taiwan rescue workers, however, refused to give up and continued with the search. Unfortunately, no survivors were found despite the team’s persistent efforts, for which they nevertheless won praise and respect. The team also received affirmation for its efforts in providing medical treatment to those injured in the quake at another location in the city. Upon completion of its mission, the Taiwan search and rescue team was slated to travel overland to the Dominican Republic Jan. 21 for a flight back to Taiwan. (SB)