Up to 10 people feared trapped in flooded underground car parks after Typhoon Hato devastates Macau
Authorities say recovery work in progress at three flooded underground car parks, while PLA soldiers are deployed for first time to help casino hub pick up the pieces
Macau authorities on Friday night said they were carrying out recovery work at three flooded underground car parks amid fears that up to 10 people could have been trapped inside by the worst storm to hit the casino hub in more than half a century.
The city’s death toll from Typhoon Hato climbed to 10 after another man’s body was found in an underground car park, the fourth person to have drowned in that way.
Fire services chief Leong Iok-sam said they were looking into unconfirmed reports from residents that up to 10 people could have been trapped in the car parks during the storm.
Chinese People’s Liberation Army soldiers on Friday marched from their barracks into the streets of Macau for the first time in history, not to keep the peace but to pick up the pieces.
At the request of the Macau government, the PLA garrison based in the casino hub after its return to Chinese sovereignty in 1999 took the unprecedented step of deploying 1,000 soldiers to help with the recovery effort.