A missile has struck Taiwan’s capital and wreaked devastation on an otherwise peaceful park.
Moments earlier, pedestrians were strolling along paved streets lined with brick and stone buildings with slanted, tiled roofs that dot this hilly location.
Now, torn limbs are scattered across blood-soaked cobblestones, and everywhere, the dying and the wounded are writhing on the ground, screaming in pain, calling out for help.
Soon, rattled first responders move to their aid, trying to locate the most seriously afflicted, staunching the bleeding from wounds and carrying people to safety.
It resembles a warzone, but it isn’t one.
The blood and the limbs are fake, the injured are unharmed actors and the first responders are trainees.
The scene is a simulation organised in late January by a civil defence group, Kuma Academy.
The drill lasted eight hours and also included training people how to respond to air defence alarms, use the surrounding terrain as cover and avoid detection by enemy forces.
“In today’s large-scale exercise, we are simulating real-life scenarios to allow our students to get hands-on experience,” Chen Ying, an instructor at Kuma Academy, explains.
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