Taiwan bay: Bridge collapses sending oil tanker falling onto boats

On October 01, a towering bridge in Taiwan collapsed sending a burning oil tanker truck falling onto boats in the water. Approximately 60 military personnel, including divers, are reportedly still searching for possible victims. According to the reports, six people are believed to be trapped in one of the fishing boats and around five people were feared to have been on the bridge when it collapsed. The 460 feet bridge collapsed in Nanfangoa which is a time bridge but it is often crowded because of the Pacific coast fishing village. The Disaster relief officials did not say if the storm which occurred hours before the collapse had weakened the bridge. They also didn't release any details on the potential cause. 

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The incident

President of Taiwan Tsai Ing-wen reportedly claimed that she hopes that all government departments would do everything possible to save people and keep the number of deaths and injuries as low as possible. The National Fire Agency spokesperson Su Hong-wei claimed that the tanker’s fall had smashed three fishing boats and it also set off a fire on the tanker truck but it did not spread beyond the vehicle. Ten people are reportedly hospitalized out of which six are Filipinos and three are Indonesians who usually work on fishing boats registered in Taiwan.

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Typhoon Mitag

The center of Typhoon Mitag had reportedly passed east of Taiwan but the outer winds had supposedly affected the island before the storm moved to the northeast. The storm injured approximately 12 people and had damaged vehicles and caused power outages around the island. The authorities in Taiwan had also shut the financial markets and canceled a dozen flights as it prepared itself to face the powerful typhoon Mitag. The Nanfangao Bridge is a tourist attraction in Yilan and was reportedly inaugurated in 1998. It was built to replace a lower bridge that prevented large fishing vessels from passing underneath. The bridge is the only single-span arch bridge in Taiwan which is supported by cables. It is also said to be the second single arch-cable steel bridge in the world.

(With inputs from AP)

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