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.