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May 28, 2002

China Airlines flight 611 disaster
Tzu Chi mobilizes volunteers from all over Taiwan to help

TAIPEI, Taiwan - Hundreds of Tzu Chi volunteers from all over Taiwan help to console grief-stricken families.

Volunteer mobilization
On the afternoon of May 25, after receiving the news that China Airlines Flight 611 had disintegrated in mid-air and crashed off the island of Penghu, the Tzu Chi Taipei Branch Office immediately set up a contact center. Volunteers all over Taiwan were called up to console families of victims. The volunteers gathered at four locations-the CKS Airport Hotel in Taoyuan, China Airlines headquarters in Taipei, Sungshan Domestic Airport, and Penghu-where they comforted despairing families. Other volunteers in Hong Kong, Singapore, and other areas of Taiwan concentrated on providing continuous support to victims' loved ones everywhere.

At daybreak on May 26, thirty volunteers from northern Taiwan flew to Penghu to assist and console victims' families. At the same time, twenty-six volunteers from southern Taiwan took off from Kaoshiung for Penghu to help chant Buddhist scriptures for the deceased and prepare meals.

As the bodies of the victims were recovered and brought to shore, Tzu Chi volunteers at the emergency morgue set up in the Makung Air Force base consoled and supported the families. While coroners examined the remains, Tzu Chi volunteers helped to identify bodies using photos of the deceased and unique physical attributes. Volunteers accompanied family members during the identification process and provided them with individual support. They also offered prayer beads and recordings of the song "Great Love Transcends Borders" to the families.

Arrangements for manpower and support
The severity of the disaster required mobilizing nearly three hundred volunteers from northern Taiwan on May 25 to help at the four focal points. There were also about seventy volunteers in the Penghu area who provided support for the search and recovery workers.

On May 26, around sixty volunteers arrived in Penghu to give support to the grieving families, chant Buddhist scriptures, and help prepare hot meals.

Materials supplied:

a. 261 Buddhist comforters for the deceased
b. 2200 sets of environmentally friendly dining ware
c. 460 sets of prayer beads
d. 200 portrait sets of the Three Western Sages
e. 50 Buddhist chanting machines
f. 100 CDs of Buddhist chants
g. 800 meals
h. other supplies including: bread, grain, pasta, buns, rolls, rice, spring water, milk, meal boxes, and gloves

IV. Postmortem Efforts
a. chanted Buddhist scriptures for the deceased
b. assisted in the identification of remains
c. consoled families, continuously providing support along the way from CKS Airport, to Sungshan Domestic Airport, to Makung in Penghu, to burial
d. assisted all families affected by the tragedy

Prayer by Dharma Master Cheng Yen during morning assembly
On May 26, during the morning assembly of volunteers at the Abode of Still Thoughts in Hualien, Dharma Master Cheng Yen led all those in attendance in a silent prayer for victims of the China Airlines disaster. She hoped that the surviving families would console and empathize with each other's bereavement. The Master observed that since the deceased had passed on, the families they left behind should offer prayers to comfort their souls. Only when the minds of the survivors are at peace will the souls of the departed be at peace.

 
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