Huang Zhiyuan, a 45-year-old Formosa Plastics employee from Changhua County, was descending the Nenggao Mountain Trail in Ren’ai Township, Nantou County on October 14 when he encountered a landslide near the Yunhai Power Line Station. While attempting to turn back for help, he got trapped and went missing. He tried to signal his location by burning leaves, but the effort was ineffective. He survived on one piece of beef jerky and one nut per day. Thanks to a joint rescue operation by the Nantou County Fire Bureau and civilian search teams, Huang was found at noon on the 25th after being missing for 12 days.
The two teammates who stayed on the mountain throughout the search without descending, as well as Huang’s wife who joined the search for the first time, all burst into tears upon finding him. Though weak when discovered, he was conscious and able to walk down the mountain with the assistance of rescuers.
Huang, who had no tent but did have a sleeping bag, told rescuers that after getting trapped, he first used his headlamp’s flashlight to signal for three days until the batteries ran out. Later, he tried burning leaves to create smoke, but the smoke flowed downward and mixed with the clouds, rendering the method ineffective. He survived on one piece of beef jerky and one nut per day. When his travel rations ran out, he felt he would starve if he didn’t get out, so he headed toward higher ground. He walked to a ledge near a large collapse site but couldn’t go any further, then returned to his original spot, where he was eventually found by rescuers.
Wu Jiahong, captain of the Nantou County Fire Bureau’s Second Battalion, said Huang was found in a stream above the 6.25-kilometer mark of the trail, not far from the major collapse area. He was still in good health when found and was taken to Puli Branch of Taichung Veterans General Hospital for a medical checkup after being brought down the mountain on the 25th.
The Nantou County Fire Bureau stated that the rescue operation mobilized a total of 374 personnel from various agencies, including the Air Rescue Squadron of the National Fire Agency under the Ministry of the Interior, the Nantou County Fire Bureau, the Changhua County Fire Bureau, the Yunlin County Fire Bureau, the Chinese Taipei Mountain Rescue Association—Central Search Team, the Chinese Taipei Mountain Rescue Association—South Search Team, the New Taipei City Rescue Association, the Eagle Mountain Search and Rescue Team, forestry patrol officers, the Taiwan Mountain Rescue Association, and the Flying Eagle Squad of the Liouguei Rescue Association in Kaohsiung. Helicopter aerial surveys were also conducted five times.
As Huang is an engineer at Formosa Plastics, the company also established a mountain rescue task force, actively mobilizing manpower and resources to assist in the search, demonstrating strong camaraderie among colleagues.
(China Times)