(Updated 16:51 — efforts to continue on the 23rd) Wu Jiyun, known in the hiking community as the “Bikini Girl,” tragically lost her life during an incident on the Mabolasih Divide. On the 22nd, the Nantou County Fire Bureau requested air support from a helicopter to retrieve her remains, but due to the treacherous terrain and dense underbrush with many tree branches at the accident site, there wasn’t enough space to operate. After three sorties and several failed retrieval attempts, the bureau stated that efforts will continue on the 23rd in hopes of successfully completing the mission.
According to the Nantou County Fire Bureau, the original plan was for the helicopter to take off from the Qingquan Air Base. If the retrieval went smoothly, it would prioritize landing at Tongfu Junior High School in Xinyi Township, allowing the nearby Xinyi and Yushan fire station teams who were already on-site for the rescue to disembark directly and return to work. Wu’s body would then be transported by ambulance to the Nantou Funeral Parlor.
Under the original plan, if weather conditions in the Tongfu area were unfavorable, the helicopter would instead land at the Fire Training Center in Zhushan. If that also proved unfeasible, it would fly directly back to Qingquan Air Base to unload the body.
On the morning of the 22nd, the weather in Tongfu was fine, but the retrieval operation in the mountains encountered difficulties.
It turned out the environment at the scene was challenging, and there wasn’t sufficient space between the trees to perform the retrieval. A chainsaw had to be used to clear some branches. The helicopter made two unsuccessful retrieval attempts, then turned back to Tongfu Junior High School around noon to drop off firefighters, including Zhang La, so they could arrange for chainsaw equipment before the helicopter flew back to base to refuel.
At 12:30 p.m., the helicopter took off on its second trip, carrying personnel and tools into the mountain area to clear obstacles at the site.
Around 4 p.m., on-site personnel reported that the underbrush and branches had been cleared. The air rescue helicopter took off for a third time at 4:06 p.m., but upon arrival, the thickening cloud cover over the mountain forced it to return. The fire bureau assessed that weather conditions on the 23rd would be relatively more stable, and plans to apply for another helicopter mission to take off at 7 a.m., with hopes of finally succeeding in the retrieval.
(China Times)