3 dead, 690 injured in Taiwan due to Typhoon Kong-rey

By Gizem Nisa Cebi

ISTANBUL (AA) — Typhoon Kong-rey has caused extensive damage across Taiwan, resulting in three deaths and over 690 injuries, local media reported Saturday.

The storm has led to more than 10,000 incidents of infrastructure damage, including fallen trees obstructing roads, according to Focus Taiwan, citing the island nation's Central Emergency Operation Center (CEOC).

One of the deceased, a 56-year-old foreign national, was killed by a falling tree in the central Nantou county, while a 48-year-old man in the capital Taipei died when a utility pole toppled on his motorcycle.

A migrant worker in the Guanyin district of Taoyuan, a city west of Taipei, also succumbed to injuries from a work platform fall confirmed to be storm-related.

The report said that 155 individuals had taken refuge in ten shelters across the cities of Taoyuan, Kaohsiung, Keelung, and Hualien, while some areas, including the Smangus area in the northern Hsinchu county, remain isolated due to a broken bridge.

Efforts to repair obstructed roads are underway, it added.

Over 63,000 households are experiencing water outages, expected to be resolved by Saturday evening, with more than 950,000 households without electricity. Full restoration is expected by Sunday evening.

Agricultural losses have exceeded 480 million New Taiwan dollars (about $15 million), particularly impacting rice, garlic, food corn, custard apples, and peanuts in Hualien and Yunlin counties.