23 people injured in Taitung as typhoon approaching

Taipei, Oct. 2 (CNA) Twenty-three people in Taitung County have been injured, including three who were hospitalized, as of 5:41 a.m. Wednesday due to the bad weather brought by Typhoon Krathon, according to the county's typhoon disaster prevention and response center.

One of those hospitalized was a truck driver who was seriously injured Monday night after his vehicle collided with a large rock on the South Link Highway in Taimali Township.

The driver was transferred to the intensive care unit after surgery at Mackay Memorial Hospital in Taitung, information from the center indicated.

As of early Wednesday morning, the others who were hospitalized were at Orchid Island's health clinic after receiving emergency care there, the center said.

Meanwhile, a total of 2,735 people had been evacuated from various towns and cities in the county as of 6 a.m.

In related news, the Barbados-registered "Blue Lagoon" cargo ship, which had run aground in waters near Orchid Island off Taitung's east coast, began to tilt Wednesday morning, the center said.

Due to the rough seas, authorities have been unable to approach the vessel to assess any potential oil leakage, it said, noting that the ship has 39 tons of diesel and 227 tons of low-sulfur fuel oil on board.

At 9 a.m. Wednesday, the eye of Typhoon Krathon was located 160 kilometers to the southwest of Kaohsiung and moving north-northeast at a speed of 7-10 kph, according to data from the Central Weather Administration.

With a radius of 220 km, the storm was packing maximum sustained winds of 173 kph, with gusts of up to 209 kph, the data showed.