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U.S. heavy-lift chopper to arrive Monday

ROC Central News Agency

2009/08/16 16:58:19
Taipei, Aug. 16 (CNA) At least one U.S. heavy-lift CH-53E helicopter will arrive in Taiwan Monday to assist in relief operations in the southern part of the country, which was devastated by flooding and landslides from Typhoon Morakot, defense officials said Sunday.

"The U.S. military is now working to have its CH-53E helicopter take part in humanitarian post-disaster relief efforts in Taiwan, " said an official with the Ministry of National Defense (MND) , who spoke on condition of anonymity.

According to the official, at least one CH-53E helicopter will be delivered by an amphibious transport dock ship, also known as a landing platform dock, to waters near Taiwan from where the chopper will fly to the Tainan air base in southern Taiwan.

If all goes well, the official said, at least one CH-53E chopper will arrive in Tainan Monday at the earliest.

The official would not confirm, however, if the United States will provide one or two such heavy-lift helicopters.

"Our two sides are still in close contact to work out relevant details, " the official said, adding that the Defense Ministry will inform the public once all technical details are settled.

As the CH-53E chopper can transport a 16-ton payload, its arrival is expected to help with relief and rehabilitation work in mountainous areas that were cut off from the outside world in the storm, the official added.

Typhoon Morakot, which dumped more than 2500 mm of precipitation -- the equivalent of a whole year's rainfall -- in some parts of Taiwan Aug. 7-9, proved lethal in several remote villages that dot mountains in the southern counties of Kaohsiung and Pingtung.

A National Fire Administration official said earlier this week that Taiwan urgently needs helicopters that can carry cranes and other heavy-duty machinery into flood- and landslide-ravaged mountainous villages to help rescue those who might still be stranded.

The storm, one of the worst natural disasters to batter Taiwan in half a century, had officially killed at least 124 people across Taiwan and left 45 injured and 56 others unaccounted for as of 10 p.m. Saturday.

Those numbers do not include the potentially hundreds of people believed to have been buried in landslides in remote mountainous areas of southern Taiwan, especially in Siaolin village in Kaohsiung County.

(By Sofia Wu) enditem/ls