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Taiwanese
rescue team reaches Haiti
TRAFFIC JAM:: Air traffic
delayed the team by two days before it finally entered from the Dominican
Republic in trucks and minibuses at 4am on Saturday morning
STAFF WRITER, WITH CNA , PORT-AU-PRINCE
Monday, Jan 18, 2010, Page 1
A member of the
Taiwanese rescue team, accompanied by a sniffer dog, searches for survivors in
the wreckage of a government building in Haiti’s earthquake-hit capital
Port-au-Prince on Saturday.
PHOTO: CNA
After nine hours struggling to reach quake-stricken Haiti
from neighboring Dominican Republic, the first Taiwanese search and rescue team
arrived in the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince at about 1pm on Saturday and
immediately pitched in with the desperate search for survivors.
The team of 14 specialists and two sniffer dogs — along with 2,000kg of
equipment and medical supplies, including life detectors — reported to a UN
coordination center to share assignments after responding to a call by the
Republic of China embassy in Haiti to search the collapsed central government
building to determine whether anyone was still alive beneath mountains of
rubble.
Some members of the team began providing medical services to the wounded.
Squad leader Lin Chien-chih (林謙志) said their arrival had been stalled for two
days because of impeded air traffic.
Lin said the team would stay in Haiti for at least three days, but would stay
longer if required.
The team departed from Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic,
which shares a border with Haiti, at 4am on Saturday for Port-au-Prince aboard
two mini buses and one truck.
Meanwhile, Chang Tai-fu (張台輔), Taiwan’s acting ambassador in Haiti, told the
Central News Agency (CNA) yesterday that China’s commercial representative there
had suggested to him via a Taiwanese businessman that Taipei and Beijing jointly
conduct rescue and relief tasks in the Caribbean country. However, the proposal
“has been rejected courteously” by Chang on grounds that the rescue teams of the
two sides have been tasked with different missions.
Ambassador to Haiti Hsu Mien-sheng (徐勉生) and Consul Chi Wang-teh (齊王德) were
injured when their Port-au-Prince headquarters collapsed during the killer
quake. They have been sent to the Dominican Republic for treatment.
CNA yesterday also reported that a four-year-old daughter of an overseas
Taiwanese businessman, was confirmed by her mother as killed by the earthquake.
The girl’s body was found under the rubble of a collapsed school building by
French and Canadian search teams, CNA said.
In related news, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) could add the Dominican Republic
to the itinerary of his visit to Honduras later this month to bring monetary aid
and relief goods to Haiti.
Ma is to attend the Jan. 27 inauguration of Honduran president-elect Porfirio
Lobo Sosa.
A source in Taipei said Ma would bring the relief funds and goods to the border
between the Dominican Republic and Haiti, but would not enter Haiti to avoid
causing more trouble for the diplomatic ally.
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