The Daily Mail is reporting that a mysteriously triggered landslide has covered a 900-foot section of highway near Keelung Taiwan. Two cars were reported buried under the slide, and one, a taxi cab, had been under GPS tracking at the time. The GPS signal was lost when the cab was apparently buried, and now over 1,000 rescuers are attempting to locate and dig-out the 55-year old driver.
Locator dogs were brought in, but unfortunately no sign of the cab driver, or another driver suspected of having been buried, has been detected. The arial view of the slide shows its massive nature, however the daunting scope of what the rescuers face really comes to light when compared to the earthmoving equipment dwarfed in its shadow. While the apparent loss of life is truly sad, the scale of the slide, covering six lanes and two ramps is jaw-dropping.
The Mail Online reports that the Taiwanese Ministry of Transportation is investigating 20 similar road-abutting slopes to determine if they also present a danger.
Image sources; [Reuters, AFP/Getty via Daily Mail]
Taiwan Landslide Buries Cab, The Meter's Running on Reaching the Driver
By Robert Emslie
Apr 27, 2010
Kamil Kaluski
makes me happy i dont drive through any of southern californias numerous freeway adjacent cliffs.
I try not to drive through cliffs either. It's bad for the paint.
😉
Oh, man, I hate when that happens.
I've always wondered how that type of thing isn't a more frequent occurence. The big rock walls surrounding highways that have been cut through the hillside never seem all that stable to me.
Shit. How am I going to get to Dapu now?!?
That will dig right out.
Slightly incentive title?
Would make for a pretty good (albeit cliche) Jeep/Land Rover commercial.
What kind of incentive is it? Cash back, or special APR?
Seriously though, are they really going to try to clear the roadway with those little bitty trackhoes? That might take a little while.
Good Lord… I'm not to sure if they can find anyone in that. I do hope they find someone alive though.
No doubt. They need big enormous open pit mine shovels. Probably not one of them anywhere near. Or the big gnarly open pit trucks to haul the rock away.
Just trying to break up that fallen bridge without at least one excavator with a hydraulic demolition shear is going to be gnarly. That rebar gets a mind of its own when you're trying to bust it up with just a bucket, its foremost thought is how it's going to get in the cab and spear you or the guy in the machine next to you. And I concur with PowerTryp below, those cars are flatter than pancakes under all that rock. Well, maybe rolled like a flauta is more like it.
I'm sorry to say this but in a landslide like that glass breaks and metal becomes maliable real easily. I'm not holding out hope for either of the drivers.
Or at least a hydraulic hammer so you can bust up the concrete so you can see the rebar. Yeah, those poor cars are tinfoil, and this is a real mess.
Bring out the TNT.
I’m not sure I entirely agree with you on this post. Then again I am always amenable to original options. Probably will have to feel about it. Great site by the way.