Yesterday afternoon at around 2 p.m., the Taipei City Fire Department received a report that four hikers had gone missing near Qintian Gang. Volunteers and emergency responders were immediately notified to conduct a search. After 24 hours, it turned out the original caller had already returned home to rest by yesterday evening. The entire false alarm saw a total of 61 rescuers mobilized. Authorities urged the public that once a rescue is requested, if they have safely descended, they should call to cancel the report to avoid wasting emergency resources.
The Fire Department stated that at 2:34 p.m. yesterday, two female hikers and two children lost their way on the Pingding Ancient Canal Hiking Trail in Qintian Gang of Yangmingshan National Park and called for help. However, the call was cut off midway, and when authorities tried to call back, no one answered, leading them to believe the group was lost and in need of rescue.
Emergency responders initially suspected poor mobile phone signal in the area. Believing the four hikers were lost, they dispatched search teams in the evening, but decided to wait until daylight to begin the actual search. Later during the day, through mobile phone location tracking and surveillance footage near the trailhead, it was discovered that the four had actually descended the mountain by yesterday evening. A phone call confirmed they were indeed the ones who had made the initial report.
Authorities urged the public that if they report an incident requesting assistance but later manage to get down the mountain on their own, they should immediately inform the police or fire department to prevent the waste of rescue resources.
(China Times)