Kinmen Faces Continued Stranding with Over 700 Passengers; Legislator Chen Yu-chen Requests Evacuation Support

Flights to and from Kinmen were canceled on the day before yesterday and yesterday morning due to dense fog, affecting the travel plans of over 2000 people. Despite continuous efforts using sea transport, military flights, and additional civilian charter flights, a large number of passengers remain stranded. This morning, Kinmen Airport reported waiting lists with 376 passengers for Taipei, 189 for Taichung, and 177 for Kaohsiung. KMT legislator Chen Yu-chen, who was present this morning to oversee the headcounts, stated in a media interview that she would first request the Civil Aeronautics Administration to assess capacity. If civilian aircraft capacity is insufficient, she would request the Ministry of National Defense to dispatch additional military planes. She added that the weather is good today and expressed hope that stranded residents and travelers could return home safely today. Dense fog since the end of the Qingming Festival holiday on April 6th led to the deployment of the "Xin Jin Xiang Long" ferry, which transported 310 passengers to Chiayi's Budai Port. After the fog cleared yesterday morning, 8 military aircraft were used to transport 560 passengers back, and airlines also added extra flights to assist with evacuation. (Editor: Zhang Mingkun)