Taiwanese driver recounts his narrow escape during Typhoon Kong-rey
A ride-hailing driver has recounted how he had narrow escape when a huge tree smashed onto his vehicle as Typhoon Kong-rey swept over Taiwan, also sweeping away metal roofs and sending landslides onto roads and into houses
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — A ride-hailing driver recounted Friday how he had narrow escape when a huge tree smashed onto his vehicle as Typhoon Kong-rey swept over Taiwan, also sweeping away metal roofs and sending landslides onto roads and railway tracks and into houses.
Song Zi-jie had just dropped off riders in Taipei, the capital city, and was stopped at a red light on Thursday night when a tree was uprooted and fell squarely onto the passenger compartment of his car. He felt the roof hit his head and reclined his seat but couldn’t open the rear door. He lay there until police found him.
“I was so frightened that I didn’t know what to do,” said Song, who wasn’t injured despite the extensive damage to his vehicle. “It took me a while to return to normal.”
Two people died, four people are missing and 580 others were injured by Kong-rey in Taiwan. It weakened to a tropical storm after leaving the island but was still bringing heavy rain and windy conditions to Shanghai and nearby parts of China’s east coast on Friday.
