Kaohsiung landslide victims not yet recovered / 高雄燕巢土石流 淹沒民宅3人失蹤　　　　　　　　　　

After almost two days, typhoon Megi has finally left Taiwan. At 5:30 pm last night, it weakened into a tropical storm and is currently hovering above China's Fujian province. Heavy rain brought by the storm in Kaohsiung resulted in a large-scale landslide in Yanchao District's Zhongmin Road. One household consisting of an elderly couple in their 80's and their 50 year old son are thought to have been buried by the landslide. At midday yesterday a search was started amid continuing rain, which hampered search efforts. Friends and relatives called out around the house where a couple in their 80's and their 50 year old son live. After the typhoon, it was found that their house had been pushed 20 meters downhill by a landslide and no-one answered the shouts. ==HSIAO LUNG-YU Kaohsiung Dong Yen Borough Chief== I got a report from another resident this morning and so I came over straight away to see and found the house had been buried by a landslide. The Shi family's house is on Zhongmin Road in Kaohsiung's Yanchao District, yesterday morning as the rain eased off a bit, a search team was sent out and found that the slope had collapsed and was piled at least one storey high. Fire personnel made a search and found that three rooms on the ground floor of the building were completely filled with mud. ==WANG CHANG-CHAN Kaohsiung City Fire Admn. 4th Sec. Chief== We are using equipment to cut through the ceiling and get into the rooms below. Military personnel and our colleagues will work together to move out the mud. It rained on and off, which hampered rescue efforts. Waiting relatives were in distress and in shock because in 30 year years there had never been a landslide in the area. ==Daughter== Before the typhoon, we asked them to come to my brother's place, but they didn't, they never want to move, they are over 80, so they don't want to move The local administration office also emphasized that this area wasn't at risk for landslides and so wasn't included in compulsory or precautionary evacuation measures. It was probably due to the sheer volume of rain in the area. It hoped that the weather would clear up soon so that the victims could be found. TRANSLATED BY：CLARE LEAR 親友對著歪斜的房子大聲吶喊，因為裡面住著80多歲施姓老夫婦和50歲兒子，但颱風過後卻被發現，房子已經被土石流沖走20公尺，不管怎麼呼喊，都沒有人回應。 ==高雄東燕里長 蕭隆宇== 早上我接到里民跟我通報 這裡好像有山坍方 我就跑過來看 發現情況不一樣我就靠過去看 啊 慘了 房子被埋了 施家的房子位在高雄燕巢區中民路，上午風雨漸歇，當地巡守隊出外查看，才發現山坡已經整片滑落，在馬路上堆得超過一層樓高，消防隊獲報來搜救，發現3個人房間所在的一樓，已經完全被土石流淹沒。 ==高雄市消防局第四大隊大隊長 王中展== 現在是用我們 破壞器材進去破壞 從二樓的天花板打個開口進去 然後配合我們軍方 包括我們同仁用圓鍬 把土石流慢慢的 泥土把它挖出來 山區不時下大雨，增加搜救難度，家屬在現場很焦急，也很納悶，在這裡住了30多年，其實從沒發生過土石流。 ==施家女兒== (以前)有請他們離開去哥哥那邊 另外一邊住(這次怎麼沒有) 沒有 他們每次都不要離開 八十幾歲就是不要離開 區公所也強調，這一帶不是土石流潛勢區域，不用進行預防或強制撤離，可能是雨量太多且太過集中，現在只希望天氣快點放晴，順利找到生還者。 記者 王介村 許政俊 高雄報導