Three Chinese mainland technicians left for Taiwan Saturday afternoon to help install prefabricated houses on the typhoon-hit island.

They were the first batch of technicians sent to the island as requested by the Taiwan-based Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF). Seven others will arrive later.

Yang Yun and two other colleagues with the Shenzhen Yahgee Modular House Co. Ltd., producer of the prefabricated houses, left for Kaohsiung aboard the Dragonair KA430 flight from Hong Kong.

Morakot, the worst typhoon to hit Taiwan in nearly five decades, wreaked havoc across central and southern Taiwan. It has so far claimed at least 153 lives on the island, left hundreds of others missing and destroyed houses.

The Shenzhen City government decided to donate 1,000 prefabricated houses with a worth of nearly 20 million yuan (US$2.9 million).

The first 100 houses arrived in Kaohsiung in 14 containers Tuesday afternoon and were soon transported to the area destroyed by Morakot in Pingtung County, one of the worst-hit areas in the island's southern region.

Taiwan authorities had hoped these mainland technicians could come to the island later next week.

The mainland-based Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) submitted a list of designated technicians to the SEF Monday and Taiwan authorities granted permission Friday afternoon.

With the assistance of the ARATS, the ten technicians finished departure procedures Friday evening, and the trio took off ahead of schedule.

(Xinhua News Agency August 22, 2009)