By D. Maan, Jadetimes News
Crew 'Held Each Other and Jumped' as Typhoon Sinks Ship
Nine crew members from a cargo ship in Taiwan faced some fast action and a life or death situation when their vessel began to sink. There was no time to reach the raft; the crew decided to jump into the water and hold each other in groups for safety.
The Taiwan coast guard announced on Thursday afternoon that one group of four survivors from Myanmar nationals was found. Sadly, the captain was later discovered dead the following day, while four other crewmen were still missing.
The crew was on board the Tanzanian-flagged vessel of the Fu Shun, which tipped over after Typhoon Gaemi pounded the island. The vessel overturned at about 05:45 local time on Thursday (21:45 GMT Wednesday).
Confronted with such a situation, the nine Myanmar nationals broke up into two five and four. Even though all of them were wearing life jackets, high waves swept away the jackets of three people belonging to the five member group, according to the surviving individuals.
The search and rescue teams found the body of the captain at about 06:55 Friday. Four missing crew members belonged to the group led by the captain.
Local residents found two of the survivors on a beach in Kaohsiung at around 16:00 and brought them to the police station. The Taiwanese Coast Guard rescued the other two survivors later from another part of this city's coast.
One survivor told how he swam backward to retrieve a waist bag containing his passport before swimming "with all his life" to reach the shore. Another survivor broke down in tears after contacting his family, who had feared he was dead after reading the news on Thursday.
Rescue efforts were impeded, said officials, because the waves and waters were very rough. Photographs from the coast guard showed survivors wrapped in ponchos and towels for warmth, many with coast guard personnel attending to their injuries on arms and legs.
Moreover, eight other freight vessels with 79 crew members are also stranded in the turbulent waters. The crew is reportedly safe, Taiwan's Ocean Affairs Council said, adding it was also trying to prevent possible oil spills.
Typhoon Gaemi weakened into a tropical storm Thursday evening but not before it could cause widespread damage in Taiwan and the Philippines, killing at least 21 people. The storm was making its second landfall in China's southeastern Fujian province Thursday evening, prompting evacuation of nearly 300,000 people, with public transport across eastern China suspended on Friday.
