A man and a woman were yesterday found dead inside a van after heavy downpours in Chiayi County on Sunday.
Rescuers found the bodies after responding to a call reporting that two people were believed to be inside a vehicle near a bridge close to Provincial Highway No. 82’s Jhonghe Interchange in Chiayi, the county’s fire bureau said, adding that the flooding had mainly subsided at that point.
The two might have become trapped when their van was submerged following heavy rain in the area, which began on Sunday afternoon and continued until late on Sunday night, police said.
Photo: Wang Shan-yan, Taipei Times
The case has been turned over to prosecutors and drowning was determined to be the cause of death, they said.
As of 10pm on Sunday, 32 people had been rescued from flooded vehicles near the bridge, police added.
Yesterday morning, the Chiayi City Government announced the closure of state-run high schools in the city, and National Chiayi University said its campuses in the city and county would be closed.
On Sunday night, the county government had announced that schools and offices would be closed yesterday, but the Chiayi City Government had said that schools and offices were expected to be open.
Meanwhile, the Alishan Forest Railway service has been suspended until further notice.
As of Sunday night, Chiayi city and county had recorded more than 280mm of rain, the Central Weather Bureau said.
The heavy downpours in the area, which started at 2pm on Sunday, resulted in flooding and mudslides that disrupted traffic, and damaged and buried homes.
Jhuci Township (竹崎) Mayor Tseng Liang-tseh (曾亮哲) on Sunday night said that a mudslide had buried or destroyed more than 10 houses, including a household that was set to hold a funeral for a family member yesterday.
The body of the deceased, which was swept away by a one-story-high mudslide along with the freezer it was being preserved in the living room, was found at about noon yesterday, the Jhuci police precinct said in a statement.
The rest of the family were in a different part of the house, and were all safe, the precinct said.
Police had been helping the family search for the body since Sunday night after receiving a call at about 9pm, it said, adding that the military and township office had also sent excavators and equipment to the site yesterday morning to help the family find the body as soon as possible.
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