Matsu: The Lienchiang County government, which administers the Matsu Islands, announced on Tuesday that it requested the Ministry of National Defense (MND) to provide C-130 military transport planes. These planes are intended to transport visitors stranded in Matsu back to Taiwan's main island, following disruptions in air and sea traffic caused by Typhoon Danas over the weekend.
According to Focus Taiwan, the runway at Nangan Airport in Matsu was temporarily closed due to poor visibility from a thunderstorm, delaying one of the C-130 planes. Despite these delays, Chen Ju-lan, head of the Lienchiang County Traffic and Tourism Bureau, confirmed that the MND agreed to deploy C-130 planes for six round trips on Tuesday to evacuate approximately 1,300 visitors.
Hundreds of visitors gathered at Nangan Airport early in the morning, eager to secure seats on the military planes. One visitor mentioned that their short trip to Matsu had unexpectedly extended due to the typhoon and expressed hope for additional military planes to facilitate the return of all stranded visitors.
Matsu authorities estimated that around 2,000 visitors were unable to leave due to Typhoon Danas, indicating that several hundred would remain stranded by Tuesday night. The first C-130 flight landed at Nangan Airport at 12:09 p.m. and departed for Taipei Songshan Airport shortly after. A second plane arrived at 1:50 p.m. and took off for the same destination at 2:10 p.m.
Chen also noted that the cruise ship New Taima is scheduled to sail from Keelung Port to Matsu. This, along with the resumption of airline operations, is expected to ensure all visitors can return home the following day. As of the latest update, 589 people had secured seats on the cruise ship set to depart for Keelung on Wednesday morning.
Typhoon Danas made landfall in Budai Township, Chiayi County, late Sunday and weakened into a tropical storm by early Monday. It moved north of Taiwan by Monday evening, resulting in two fatalities and over 680 injuries, as reported by the Central Emergency Operation Center.