Taiwan Today

A Taiwanese rescue team operating in earthquake-torn Haiti has helped to save the life of a French national, said Presidential Office Spokesman Wang Yu-chi. The Taiwanese squad, working in conjunction with an American and a Brazilian team, pulled the man out of the rubble of a collapsed building at 11:43 a.m., Jan. 17, local time. The survivor is a 35-year-old male, who was a part of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti. Upon learning the news, President Ma Ying-jeou expressed his admiration and recognition of the Taiwanese team’s efforts. He also reminded the team members to take heed of their own safety while carrying out rescue missions. Ma spoke on the phone with Lin Qian-chih, leader of the rescue team, late Jan. 17, the Presidential Office said. Lin told President Ma that all 15 members of the Taiwanese rescue team had arrived in the areas affected by the earthquake by land, with the assistance of the U.N.’s search and rescue team. “Upon arriving in Haiti, we met up with the American and Brazilian teams and began the search work immediately,” Lin said over the phone. “At 8:17 a.m. local time, we found signs of life using our Sonar Life Detector,” Lin continued. He added that the U.S. rescue team came in at 8:21 a.m. with heavy lifting machines, which were used to pull the French worker from the rubble of Christopher Hotel, the U.N.’s office in Haiti. In related news, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that a Canadian rescue team has found the body of a Taiwanese engineer’s 10-year-old daughter. She had been reported missing earlier. A total of eight Taiwanese emigrants, as well as the ROC embassy staff, have arrived in the neighboring Dominican Republic. A second rescue team from Taiwan, consisting of 33 people from the ROC Red Cross Society, the Taipei City Fire Department and the Tri-Service General Hospital, also reached Haiti via land route at about 4 p.m., Jan. 17, Taipei time, according to MOFA. Meanwhile, officials at the National Fire Agency’s Rescue Command Center got hold of Taiwanese rescue team members in Haiti via satellite telephone late Jan. 17. Zhang Shi-chang, the team’s liaison officer, pointed out that Haitian capital Port-au-Prince has suffered the worst damages, with continuous aftershocks throughout the early morning of the day. Zhang noted that the rescue team could only enter the country by land due to heavy air and sea traffic in the area. “With the ROC embassy’s help, six Haitian military policemen escorted us to safely arrive at our destination. During the rescue work, the U.N. peacekeepers will be in charge of our safety,” he added. In related news, the condition of Ambassador Hsu Mien-sheng has been stabilized, while Chi Wang-der, another ROC diplomat, is steadily recovering in a hospital after surgery. The ROC embassy staff met with Haitian President Rene Preval Jan. 17. Preval expressed his gratitude to the ROC government’s aid. He also expressed his concern about Hsu’s condition, promising to visit him when he visits the Dominican Republic. Separately, the American Institute in Taiwan was open on Sunday to provide emergency visa service to charity workers and government officials bound for Haiti via the U. S. The AIT indicated this special type of visa is free of charge and is valid for two years. “But holders of such visas are only allowed to be engaged in disaster relief work in Haiti,” the AIT stressed. (LC-HZW)