Nearly 3,000 tourists from Taiwan were trapped in Sichuan after the quake. The Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, and the National Tourism Administration have been coordinating with the Army, and most are now safe. On Sunday, the last 14 Taiwan tourists trapped in Wenchuan County were rescued.
At noon on Sunday, after a week of uncertainty, 11 of the last 14 tourists from Taiwan boarded a helicopter for Chengdu, wrapping up their tragic quake adventure.
At noon on Sunday, after a week of uncertainty, 11 of the last 14 tourists from Taiwan boarded a helicopter for Chengdu, wrapping up their tragic quake adventure.The oldest is 75 years old, and the youngest, 58.
Taiwan tourist Zheng Liaomei said, "When the quake hit, it banged like something exploded. And the bus was shaking. I told the driver to stop the vehicle."
Caught in the epicenter, Ms. Zheng and her friends thought it might be a landslide. They never expected an earthquake. The road was blocked and mobile phone signals disappeared. 14 elderly tourists were trapped in the mountain area. Luckily they were unhurt, and local villagers gave them food.
Taiwan tourist Mr. Zheng said, "The chief of Wenchuan County visited us every day, and brought us water and instant noodles, and comforted us."
Their rescue operation started on Saturday. It took several attempts before Zheng Liaomei and 10 of her fellow tourists got back to Chengdu for a medical exam. The remaining three in the group have to wait for the next flight.
Tian Xin from Cross-Straits Tourism Fair said, "We have taken many measures and we got the exact number of trapped tourists and started all out rescue work. "
This rescue operation has drawn attention from many media agencies on both sides of the Straits, not only because of the age of the group, but also because they are the last group of Taiwan tourists trapped in the quake zone.
(CCTV May 20, 2008)