A Tanzanian-flagged cargo was sunk off the coast of Taiwan by strong winds; the crew is missing and rescuers are unable to reach the scene.
Typhoon Gaemi, which has caused destruction in Taiwan and sunk a cargo ship with nine crew members missing, is currently churning towards southern China.
The Central Weather Administration of Taiwan reported that the typhoon made landfall on the country’s northeastern coast at around midnight (16:00 GMT) on Wednesday. It was clocked with gusts as high as 227 mph (141 mph). By 12:15 p.m. (04:15 GMT) on Thursday, the typhoon was moving rapidly towards Fuzhou, which is located in the Fujian province of China.
Nine crew members from Myanmar were forced to abandon ship while wearing life jackets after a cargo ship flying the flag of Tanzania sank off the coast of Kaohsiung, a port city in southern Taiwan, according to a report released by Taiwan’s fire service on Thursday.
The crew had made contact with a nearby Taiwanese cargo ship, according to Hsiao Huan-chang, chief of the fire agency. However, when rescuers eventually arrived, “visibility at the scene was very low and the winds were too strong” to carry out a search.
He stated, “At this time, it is not possible, but when the weather permits, we will immediately dispatch ships or helicopters to rescue.”
According to the authorities, two people have died as a result of Typhoon Gaemi, which is the biggest to hit Taiwan in eight years and has dumped 2,200mm (87 inches) of rain since Tuesday.
A woman in eastern Hualien died after a portion of a building collapsed on her, and a driver in Kaohsiung was struck by a falling tree. The storm caused more than 200 injuries.
A tree in Kaohsiung crushed a car, and a building in eastern Hualien collapsed, killing a lady. The storm caused injuries to about 200 persons.
On Thursday, a number of towns, including Taipei, declared a second day off. Hundreds of domestic and international flights were canceled, and schools, government buildings, and the stock exchange were closed.
