The barrier lake in eastern Hualien county burst Tuesday, washing away a bridge and sweeping into a town with a trail of thick sludge and mud
The remaining piers of the Mataian Bridge after it collapsed during typhoon Super Typhoon Ragasa passing through Hualien in eastern Taiwan. (Dong Wen Transports via AP)
At least 14 people were killed when a decades-old lake barrier burst in Taiwan, a government official said Wednesday, after Super Typhoon Ragasa pounded the island with torrential rain.
The barrier lake in eastern Hualien county burst Tuesday, washing away a bridge and sweeping into a town with a trail of thick sludge and mud.
“It was like a volcano erupting…. the muddy floodwaters came roaring straight into the first floor of my house,” Hsu Cheng-hsiung, 55, a neighbourhood leader of Kuang Fu township, told AFP.
Lee Kuan-ting, a Hualien County Government press official, said 14 people were killed and 18 injured.
The National Fire Agency said 124 people were missing.
“It was a disaster movie,” a local resident Yen Shau, 31, told AFP.
He said an hour before the lake burst, many people were still at the local supermarket and grocery store.
“Within minutes, the water had risen to halfway up the first floor,” he said.
He said he couldn’t sleep Tuesday night for fear of another deluge from the lake, and on Wednesday was shoveling mud from his home.
“The mud was just too deep, too deep to dig out,” he added.
Footage released by the fire agency showed flooded streets, half-submerged cars and uprooted trees.
Across Taiwan, more than 7,600 people were evacuated due to Typhoon Ragasa.
Taiwan experiences frequent tropical storms from July to October.
Typhoon Danas, which hit the island in early July, killed two people and injured hundreds as the storm dumped more than 50 centimetres of rain across the south over a weekend.
A Quiet Drive Turned Fatal: Parents and Young Son Discovered Lifeless in River
Tragedy in Cariri: A Family’s Final Journey and the Questions Left Behind
Something about the crash didn’t sit right with thos*x who arrived first. A clear morning. A quiet road. And yet, a car submerged in a rural stream — its silence heavier than the water that covered it.
Near Sítio Piripiri, where the CE-060 highway winds quietly through the countryside, danger is rare. That’s why this accident is raising more than grief — it’s raising questions.
On the morning of Sunday, July 16, tragedy struck just after sunris*x, shattering the peace of the Cariri region.
A family of three — Hérida Nascimento da Silva, s*xbastião Cícero Gomes, and their 3-year-old son, Miguel Nascimento Gomes — died when their vehicle veered off the road and plunged into a stream between Caririaçu and Juazeiro do Norte.
The family had s*xt out from Várzea Alegre on what should have been a simple, one-hour drive. Their destination was Juazeiro do Norte — not for leisure, but for something deeply personal: a surgical procedure for young Miguel. It was a journey rooted in hope. It ended in heartbreak.
According to reports from TV Verdes Mares and the Ceará Military Fire Department, the crash occurred around 7 a.m., with the vehicle leaving the asphalt and disappearing into waters five meters deep. Recovery efforts were difficult, the depth of the stream making rescue nearly impossible. By the time responders arrived, there was nothing they could do.
What caus*xd the vehicle to veer off cours*x remains under investigation. Officials are exploring mechanical failure, human error, and other contributing factors. But for locals, something feels off. The road isn’t known for danger. There were no weather complications. No other vehicles involved. Just a family — now gone — and a region left s*xarching for answers.
In the aftermath, the Cariri community is struggling to come to terms with the loss. For thos*x who knew the couple, and for anyone who has ever feared losing what they love most, the story cuts deep. It’s not just about an accident. It’s about how life, in one instant, can change forever — and how something so routine can become unthinkably tragic.
Calls for improved road safety and highway inspections have gained urgency. The CE-060, though not notorious for accidents, now stands as a symbol of how fragile the line between everyday life and disaster can be.
But beyond the statistics, beyond the road conditions and the investigations, is a grieving family and a wounded region. Their pain is not a headline — it is a daily reality. And for thos*x left behind, the memory of that morning will never fade.
