Supplies airlifted to Hsinchu mountain village cut off by typhoon

Taipei, Nov. 4 (CNA) Around 150 people stranded in Simakusi after Typhoon Kong-rey destroyed a bridge and access roads to the remote Hsinchu County mountain village received an airlift of food and medical supplies Monday morning.

According to the Hsinchu County Fire Bureau, helicopters from the National Air Service Corps. delivered 1.2 metric tons of supplies, including rice, meat, medicines, diapers and milk powder, to the Indigenous Atayal village, which sits some 1,500 meters above sea level in Jianshih Township.

An initial attempt on Sunday to reach the village, also known by its Atayal name Smangus, was aborted due to heavy fog, the bureau said.

In a statement, Taipei-based MacKay Memorial Hospital said its personnel stationed in Jianshih Township informed the county's health bureau what drugs to include in the airlifted supplies for locals with chronic diseases on Friday.

Lee Tzu-ning (李紫寧), a MacKay nurse stationed at the public health office in Jianshih Township, said it was rare to experience typhoons in November and described the damage caused by Kong-rey as "beyond expectations."