Two people from a river-tracing group were found dead and three were still missing at press time last night after being swept away on Saturday by a surging waterfall, after heavy rain in Pingtung County.
The people were part of a group of 10 exploring a section of a river near Flying Dragon Waterfall (飛龍瀑布) in Pingtung’s Wutai Township (霧台), local authorities said yesterday.
When the tourists were climbing down a cliff, the waterfall suddenly surged due to torrential rain, the Pingtung County Bureau of Fire and Emergency Services said.
Photo courtesy of the Pingtung Bureau of Fire and Emergency Services
Five people stranded on the cliff were hoisted into a helicopter by a rescue crew yesterday morning, the bureau said.
As of yesterday afternoon, authorities said they had recovered the bodies of two of those missing — a woman, who was found suspended by her climbing gear from the cliff, and a man, found in the waters below.
The bodies were moved onto a cliff to be evacuated, while three other members of the group remained missing, the Pingtung County Government said.
The fire bureau said it suspects that those missing could have been carried by surging water into the pool at the base of the waterfall and washed downstream, but their bodies had not been recovered at a checkpoint set up to intercept them.
The five rescued individuals yesterday told reporters that the group did not have a guide, and was comprised of individuals or small groups of canyoning enthusiasts, some of whom did not know each other.
The torrential rains on Saturday came without warning, leaving the group with little time to react, they said.
They fastened themselves to the cliff and waited to be rescued, they said.
Flying Dragon Waterfall is historically significant to the local Rukai community, and is known to have a strong whirlpool at the bottom, Wutai Township Mayor Dralrausu Pacekele said yesterday.
He said that he supported banning tourists from the waterfall on cultural grounds, but has been unable to do so, as the site is not part of the Wutai Township Natural and Cultural Ecology Scenic Area.
The mountainous area in Wutai recorded 155mm of rainfall in just two hours on Saturday.
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