Rescues try to retrieve bodies under the rubble of the collapsed bridge in Yilan County, Taiwan. (CNA)
Two overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) died while five others were injured after a bridge collapsed in Nanfang-ao, Yilan County, Taiwan on Tuesday.
The Department of Labor and Employment identified the five injured Filipino fishermen as Julio S. Gimawa, Jason N. Villaruel, Allan H. Alcansano, John Vicente Royo and June B. Flores.
Philippine Overseas Labor Office officials have visited the Filipinos and extended assistance.
The two casualties, recovered under the debris, have yet to be named.
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The landmark arch Nanfangao Bridge hovering above the entry to a port suddenly ruptured and fell to the ground at about 9:30 a.m., crushing three fishing boats and an oil tank truck just about to exit the bridge, Taiwan’s National Fire Agency (NFA) said.
Minister of the Interior Hsu Kuo-yung said two bodies have been found, their identities still being determined.
The Filipinos’ employer owns five boats and employs 23 migrant fishers.
The Coast Guard Administration dispatched three ships to the scene and deployed 66 people for the search-and-rescue mission.
A Black Hawk helicopter operated by the Ministry of National Defense took off from Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) to take over site surveillance, which was earlier provided by an NA101 chopper of the National Airborne Service Corps, the NFA said.
Authorities are trying to determine the cause of the collapse. Initial information received by the Ministry of Transportation and Communications indicated that a collapse of the bridge piers might be to blame.
Transportation officials said it was not yet possible to determine if a magnitude 3.8 earthquake that occurred at 1:45 a.m. also Mondat in waters off Hualien County and registered an intensity of 4 in Yilan County’s Nanao Township had anything to do with the incident.
The landmark bridge, completed in 1998, was the only single steel arch bridge in Taiwan and was the first bifurcated single-arch bridge in Asia.
Measuring 140 meters long and 15 meters wide, it sat across a waterway in the Nanfangao fishing port and was high enough to allow larger fishing boats to pass underneath. (With a report from Taipei Times)
