Ferries, aircraft assist stranded passengers after typhoon disruption

Taipei, Aug. 15 (CNA) Ferries and a military aircraft transported stranded travelers out of Kinmen County on Friday after Typhoon Podul disrupted flights between the outlying island and Taiwan, leaving hundreds stuck at the airport.

The cancellations, which began Wednesday and lasted a day and a half, halted all commercial flights to the county, located mere kilometers from China's southeastern coast and the city of Xiamen.

According to Kinmen Airport, five extra flights were arranged Thursday afternoon and evening to transport 350 passengers to Taipei, but 200 people were still waiting for standby seats as of Friday morning.

To help ease congestion, the military deployed an aircraft at noon Friday to fly 70 passengers to Kaohsiung, while the Maritime and Port Bureau arranged sea transportation for about 100 travelers to the outlying Penghu County and Chiayi County.

The bureau said a ship called the Yunbao departed Kinmen at 2 p.m. for Penghu, where travelers could transfer to another ship, the Lanqu, bound for Chiayi County in southern Taiwan.