Above and Left: Family members of Kuo Wen-han and his girlfriend, Lee Shi-ji, mourn as the couple's bodies are taken to a morgue after being examined by a prosecutor on the site of the landslide in Keelung Wedenesday. Central News Agency

Govt offers cash to bereaved families, pledges measures to prevent such tragedies from happening again

Four bodies have been dug out of rubble of the No 3 National Freeway landslide in northern Taiwan as of Wednesday morning, according to the Keelung City Fire Bureau.

A couple, identified as Kuo Wen-han and his girlfriend, Lee Shi-ji, were found first, in a black Mercedes at 3:40 am, the bureau said.

Then on the northern end of northbound lanes, rescuers discovered the body of the missing taxi driver Lin Huei-hsin at 5 am before they found the driver of a Q5-1452 sedan, identified as Yeh Mao-chu, at 7:22 am, the bureau said.

The bodies were handed to their family members after being examined by a prosecutor, it added.

At the beginning of the ruling Kuomintang's Central Standing Committee meeting Wednesday afternoon, Taiwan leader Ma Ying-jeou led participants in observing a minute's silence for the victims.

Earlier Wednesday, "Premier" Wu Den-yih said that the government will give NT$1 million ($31,786) to each victim's family and will do its best to rescue possible survivors.

"Such a massive landslide disaster will not be allowed to happen again," Wu said after attending a seminar on homeland security.

"Vice Premier" Eric Liluan Chu also expressed his condolences to the victims of the tragedy. He added that the government hopes to clear the freeway as soon as possible.

More than 1,000 rescue workers, manning 200 excavators and other heavy equipment, have been working non-stop since Sunday to restrieve four cars and five people feared buried in the landslide, which covered 300 meters of the freeway's Keelung-Sijhih section with around 200,000 cubic meters of soil and rock.

Without obvious cause, a slope collapsed on the eastern side of the freeway, at the 3.1-km mark just north of the Chitu toll station, burying more than 300 meters of road.

Taiwan Area National Freeway Bureau Director General Tseng Ta-jen said on Monday that efforts to clear the road were proceeding faster than scheduled and are expected to be completed within a few weeks.

About 120 vehicles, including 45 excavators, and over 900 workers have been assigned to the road clearing effort.

It was the worst landslide incident involving a freeway in Taiwan's history.

Authorities say they suspect that rock anchors - steel reinforcements implanted in retaining walls along the freeways - may have given way. Faulty construction is also being considered as a possible cause.

China Daily/CNA

(HK Edition 04/29/2010 page4)