Big Waves Lash North Coast: Truck Swept to Sea, 104 Anglers Trapped, 1 Person Drowned
[Cover picture: United Daily News]
Anglers fishing off a breakwater at the entrance of Keelung Harbor were suddenly faced with a life-threatening situation when a series of large waves surged over the concrete platform this morning.
Keelung Harbor Bureau said that sea conditions before the waves began to surge where normal.
At around 8:00am waves began to surge over the breakwater. A truck that had just pulled up near the edge of the breakwater was knocked over by the waves. Bystanders risked their lives and rushed to the driver’s rescue shortly before the truck was swept into the ocean by the waves that followed.
A total of 104 anglers were on the breakwater at the time. They were trapped at the end of the breakwater, which is higher than the rest of the platform, while the waves swept over the lower sections of the breakwater.
As the waves began to subside, anglers rushed from the end of the breakwater to land in small groups. The last of the anglers made it to safety at 11:15am.
Paramedics treated 10 people for abrasions caused by being knocked over by the waves. Fortunately, nobody was swept off the breakwater.
However, at around the same time the last of the breakwater anglers reached safety, in another part of Keelung, a 38 year old man was swept into the sea and drowned.
The Coast Guard received a report shortly after 11:00am that a fisherman had fallen into the sea at Dawu Lunsha Beach. A rescue helicopter located the man and airlifted him to shore unconscious. The man was declared dead at the hospital.
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