Two mountain hikers were rescued yesterday, a day after a body was airlifted out of Yushan National Park, one of several deaths related to mountaineering or hiking in the past two weeks, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday.
A Nantou County mountain rescue team called for a helicopter while responding to a call yesterday morning.
They said a woman surnamed Chen (陳), 31, and a man surnamed Lin (林), 32, got lost in the mountains around the Batongguan Historic Trail (八通關古道), while traveling west toward Dongpu Township (東埔).
Photo courtesy of the Nantou County Fire Bureau via CNA
They were directed to a nearby alpine meadow, where the helicopter landed with four rescuers at about noon.
Determining that Chen was too weak to hike out of the area and that Lin had a twisted ankle, rescuers airlifted them a sports field of a nearby school to be transported by ambulance to a hospital.
On Friday, a body was discovered in a ravine near Yushan’s (玉山) south peak trail, the ministry said.
Local rescuers moved the body to a clearing, and on Saturday the National Airborne Service Corps (NASC) arrived in a UH-60M Black Hawk helicopter to take the body to Kaohsiung International Airport, it said.
The body was identified as a 50-year-old man surname Huang (黃), who had registered with Yushan National Park Headquarters to climb the park’s 2,980m Lushan (鹿山) alone.
Park officials said he had registered to enter the park on Tuesday last week, and after reaching the summit, he planned to exit the park on Thursday last week, using a forestry road at the south side of the mountain.
He likely slipped and fell 100m to his death in the ravine, they said.
It was the second death in Yushan National Park within a week.
On Feb. 11 the NASC sent a helicopter to retrieve the body of a 30-year-old man surnamed Hsu (徐), who fell to his death along the Batongguan Historic Trail.
Officials said Hsu had led a four-person group from Taipei to hike the Central Mountain Range, entering at the Tataka Trailhead (塔塔加登山口) on Feb. 10.
Due to icy conditions, Hsu lost his footing at Yushan Wind Gap (玉山風口), falling more than 300m down a ravine, said hikers at the scene, who reported that it was below freezing at the time.
On Wednesday last week, a 47-year-old woman surnamed Wang (王) died after she was rescued in Hualien County, officials said.
The NASC airlifted Wang after she was injured in a fall, but she later died, possibly due to altitude sickness, they said.
The NASC also airlifted a woman surnamed Chien (簡) who injured her leg while among a group of five hikers attempting to climb the 3,279m Lulushan (轆轆山) in Hualien’s Chuosi Township (卓溪).
Hikers seeking to trek Taiwan’s mountains in the winter should stock up on food and water, and prepare equipment appropriate for the conditions, which could include snow and ice, particular on peaks above 3,000m, officials said.
Hikers should have safety helmets, ice picks, crampons and hiking boots, and should never hike alone, they said, adding that people should hike with groups, which should include a team leader who has mountaineering guide certification.
Emergency service units in Nantou County and elsewhere reported numerous calls requesting rescues for hikers, some of whom were alone, they said.
Many were unable to continue their treks due to altitude sickness, which sometimes afflicts people at more than 2,300m, while others had sustained ankle and leg injuries, they said.
Additional reporting by Su Fu-nan, Hsieh Chieh-yu and Tsai Cheng-mi
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS