Seven competitors in a long-distance swimming race were hospitalized yesterday after they were caught in a strong current off the coast of Kenting (墾丁) and could not make it back to shore, event organizers said. One of them was unconscious as of press time.
The swimmers were among 4,000 people aged five to 89, including more than 200 from China, trying to swim a 3km distance in the annual “International Olympic Hengchun Open Water Swimming for All” in Kenting’s South Bay (南灣).
Hosted by the Kaohsiung Adult Swimming Association, the participants were to swim 15 stages in a straight line.
Photo: Tsai Tsung-hsien, Taipei Times
However, 30 minutes after the event kicked off at 8am, the association noticed that the weather was beginning to worsen, with strong winds generating high waves, so it shortened the event from 15 stages to 12, and eventually to just five.
The association terminated the event at 9am when swimmers increasingly began to be brought in by lifeguards, but by then, more than 300 swimmers had been swept by currents toward the northern part of the bay. Some swimmers were swept as far as the Houbihu area (後壁湖), near the outflow of the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant in Ma-anshan (馬鞍山), Pingtung County.
One swimmer, surnamed Chang (張), said the currents swept swimmers out toward the northern edge of the South Bay and they were unable to swim back.
“We just couldn’t swim back,” another swimer surnamed Chang (張) said, adding there were a lot of elderly couples and children who used their swimming caps like flags to attract the attention of rescuers on jet skis dashing around trying to rescue the swimmers.
Liang Ming-te (梁明德), a commander at the Combined Armed Forces Training Base participating in the event, led more than 100 soldiers who were also taking part to help rescue efforts.
The Ministry of National Defense said that once the military was alerted to the incident, it placed several S-70C helicopters on stand-by in the Chiayi Air Force Base.
Local jet-ski rental owners also offered their jet skis to aid police and firefighters in pulling the people out of the water.
The Pingtung County Government and civilian organizations also mobilized personnel once they were informed, with the last swimmer finally pulled from sea at noon.
Of the people sent to the hospital, 63-year-old Shih Nan-ching (施南靖) from New Taipei City (新北市) was showing no signs of life after he was brought ashore and despite restoring blood flow to the body after administering mouth-to-mouth resucitation, Shih remained unconscious as of press time.
Another swimmer, a 73-year-old woman named Wang Ching-tzu (王靜子) from Greater Tainan, was confirmed as stable after undergoing tracheal intubation.
Since an incident five years ago in which a swimmer drowned, the event had not seen any major accidents until yesterday.
The Central Weather Bureau’s marine meteorology center said it had noticed an aberration in wave patterns early yesterday morning, adding that it had warned both yesterday and on Saturday that winds at Kenting would be at level 6 or 7 on the Beaufort Scale, with some gusts reaching level 9.
According to the center, buoys in Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻) showed currents were flowing in a southeasterly direction on Saturday and on Friday, while waves yesterday morning had no distinct directional flow.
The center said the statistics sent back by its buoys were extremely odd, adding that it had not yet determined if the strange data was linked to the opposing currents.
Additional reporting by CNA
SECURITY: As China is ‘reshaping’ Hong Kong’s population, Taiwan must raise the eligibility threshold for applications from Hong Kongers, Chiu Chui-cheng said When Hong Kong and Macau citizens apply for residency in Taiwan, it would be under a new category that includes a “national security observation period,” Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. President William Lai (賴清德) on March 13 announced 17 strategies to counter China’s aggression toward Taiwan, including incorporating national security considerations into the review process for residency applications from Hong Kong and Macau citizens. The situation in Hong Kong is constantly changing, Chiu said to media yesterday on the sidelines of the Taipei Technology Run hosted by the Taipei Neihu Technology Park Development Association. With
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
A US Marine Corps regiment equipped with Naval Strike Missiles (NSM) is set to participate in the upcoming Balikatan 25 exercise in the Luzon Strait, marking the system’s first-ever deployment in the Philippines. US and Philippine officials have separately confirmed that the Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) — the mobile launch platform for the Naval Strike Missile — would take part in the joint exercise. The missiles are being deployed to “a strategic first island chain chokepoint” in the waters between Taiwan proper and the Philippines, US-based Naval News reported. “The Luzon Strait and Bashi Channel represent a critical access
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College