Taiwan

Families of missing mainlanders heading to Taiwan

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-10-25 21:33

TAIPEI - The families of 19 Chinese mainland tourists missing after a landslide triggered by Typhoon Megi are scheduled to arrive in Taiwan at 8:55 pm Monday, according to the island's Travel Agent Association.

Thirty-six relatives of the missing tourists and five tour workers were expected to arrive on a flight from Macao, said association chairman Yao Ta-kuang at a press conference on Monday.

Family members of the missing tourists arrive at Taoyuan International Airport in Taiwan, Oct 25. More than 40 family members and workers from Guangdong arrived in Taipei on the evening of Oct 25. [Photo/Xinhua]

Related readings:  Death toll from Typhoon Megi in Taiwan rises to 13  19 mainland tourists missing as typhoon hits Taiwan  Missing mainland tourists' families head for Taiwan  Megi strands over 500 mainland tourists in Taiwan  Typhoon Megi triggers rockslides in Taiwan

The tour group from south China's Guangdong province has been out of contact since October 21 after a landslide on the Suao-Hualien Highway on the island's east coast.

Yao said his association, Taiwan's transport and communication authority, and a local travel agency would give a briefing on the progress made in the search on Monday night after the families arrived.

The families would go to the site of the landslide in Ilan county on Tuesday, Yao said. The association would partner each family member with a local volunteer and a car throughout their stay in Taiwan.

Apart from the 19 mainlanders, tour group leader Tian Yuan from Beijing is still missing. A local tour guide and two local drivers who were with two mainland tour groups remain missing after their buses were hit by landslides on the Suao-Hualien Highway on October 21.

Members of Tian's family arrived in Taiwan Saturday.

In a meeting with Li Yaying, deputy secretary-general of the mainland's Cross-Strait Tourism Exchange Association (CTEA), in Ilan on Monday, Tian's mother said, "I only want to see my daughter as soon as possible."

Li arrived on the island Sunday to help coordinate rescue work and deal with the aftermath of the landslide.

Tian's husband, Kou Minghu, said, "The last time I got in touch with her was Wednesday night. She told me she had got rid of her cold and asked me if I was feeling better because I'd not been feeling well either. I didn't expect it would be our last call."

? Kou Minghu, husband of the missing tour leader Tian Yuan, speaks to the media on Oct 25. Kou and Tian's mother arrived in Taiwan on the evening of Oct 23. Deputy Secretary-General of the Cross-Straits Tourism Exchange Association Li Yaying went to console them on Oct 25. [Photo/Xinhua]

The rescue team found body parts on Monday morning near a section on the Suao-Hualien Highway. The local mortuary services office collected DNA samples from Tian's mother at noon to help in the identification.

Taiwan authorities dispatched more than 200 rescuers to comb land and sea areas around the site Monday.

Bus debris was found on the slope Sunday, but with visibility down to only 2 meters at sea on Monday morning, the search was not proceeding well, said a rescue team member.

Rescue efforts were further disrupted by heavy rain Monday afternoon.