Amid chaos, the story of the lone Indian family of Hualien, the worst affected city of Taiwan in earthquake

Amritsar: During Taiwan's strongest earthquake in 25 years, measuring 7.2 on the Richter scale and reportedly claiming at least nine lives while injuring over 800, the lone Indian family in Hualien, the city most severely affected by the earthquake, feels fortunate to have survived nature's wrath. Meanwhile, an Indian-led philanthropic organization based in Taipei is awaiting the reopening of roads to Hualien to provide assistance to those in need.

Mandy Singh, a native of Jalandhar, who runs Mahi and Mandi’s Curry Corner in Hualien, and is the only Indian family of four members in the city ,recounted his experience during the earthquake. He said he was driving back home after dropping his elder son at school when the earthquake struck. “ I was scared by a sudden and violent upheaval of the earth, which shook my sense of stability and understanding. Sensing the ground beneath my car rumbling, I saw scooters, flower pots, and other objects tumbling to the ground and could experience the sheer force of nature's power” said he adding that he stopped his car and waited until the situation normalized.

He said that upon reaching home, he found that his wife had been injured as she had fallen twice while going down staircase during the earthquake. However, she managed to made her way to the street from their third-floor house along with his young son.

He added, "Meanwhile, I received a phone call from the school to pick up my elder son and I rushed there”.

He informed that immediately after the earthquake, he closed his restaurant and observed at least two large buildings near his restaurant dangerously tilting. "Most of the buildings that suffered damage are over three to four decades old, but a few new buildings also have cracks," he noted.

Despite this, he said he decided to reopen his restaurant in the evening due to the heavy demand for food.

He also informed that there were around 6 to 8 more Indian students studying at the National Dong Hwa University in Shouting, Hualien, and there were no reports of harm to any of them, so far.

ND Singh Arya, the president of the Taiwan-based Bhartiya Kar Sewa Mandali and the Sabka Mandir, Taiwan's first Hindu temple in Taipei City, said that there were around 7,000 Indians living in Taiwan with the majority of them living in Taipei As of the filing of this report, he said there had been no reports of any Indians being severely affected by the earthquake. “Taipei is not affected but it is Hualien that suffered most “ he said.

He further informed that "Presently, the roads leading to Hualien city were heavily damaged and blocked due to tunnel collapse. "Once the roads are reopened, we will lead a delegation to Hualien to assess the situation and decide how we can extend help, such as cleaning or other forms of assistance”. Eom

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