The number of people injured in the 7.2-magnitude earthquake in eastern Taiwan has risen to more than 1,000, while the death toll remains at nine.
Dozens of workers en route to hotels in the national park have mostly now been found and taken to safety.
The earthquake, the strongest in 25 years, hit Taiwan on Wednesday morning just as people were getting ready to go to work and school. Buildings, except in the east of the country, shook strongly in the capital city of Taipei, but damage and disturbances were minimal.
Taiwan’s fire service said the number of injured had reached 1,050, while the total number of missing was 52. About two dozen of the nearly 50 hotel workers en route to a resort in Taroko National Park were located.
The fire department said the group was cut off on the cross-island highway that runs through the gorge that connects Hualien to Taiwan’s west coast, which is a popular tourist destination.
This morning, the helicopter rescued six people who were trapped in the mining region, the fire service announced.
The railway line to Hualien has reopened, although one rural station north of the city of Hualien remains closed due to damage, the railway administration said.
In the city of Hualien, where all the people who were ‘trapped’ in the buildings were rescued. Some people slept outdoors overnight as more than 300 aftershocks shook the region.
