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Three injured in power repair truck accident

Three injured in power repair truck accident

Three injured in power repair truck accident

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Three employees of Taiwan Power Corporation out to repair power failures in the wake of Typhoon Megi were injured when their truck plowed down a ravine in Miaoli County Wednesday.
More than 3.3 million households nationwide lost power during the onslaught of the storm Tuesday, and repair crews were out in force Wednesday to try and restore electricity.
The group had completed work in a mountainous area of Touwu Township and was on its way back when they crashed down a 10-meter-deep ravine, reports said. Rescue workers found one of the men gravely injured, and took all of them to a hospital in Miaoli.
The road had been covered in fallen branches and was loosened up due to the heavy rain of the past day, reports said.
Two of the men were only slightly injured and succeeded in freeing their colleague from the truck. Because of the slippery terrain, the rescue team which had arrived by that time had a difficult task pulling them up the steep slope.
A 55-year-old man named Lu Li-pin was the worst off, but his condition was not critical, the hospital said. The driver, Yeh Yun-hui, 60, said the team had been working until after 11 p.m. the previous evening.
President Tsai Ing-wen was planning to visit the three Taipower employees in hospital Wednesday afternoon, reports said.
During Typhoon Megi, about 150,000 households lost power in Miaoli County alone. Early Wednesday morning, Taipower mobilized 265 employees and subcontractors with 115 vehicles and machines to restore the electricity supply to the 30,000 homes still left without.