(Updated at 21:43) The Taipei City Fire Department received a report around 4 p.m. today that a member of the public had gone missing while hiking on the main peak of Qixing Mountain. They immediately mobilized a large number of personnel and search dogs to conduct a search on the mountain. Finally, at 9:21 p.m., the missing female student was found.
The Taipei City Fire Department stated that at 9:21 p.m., rescuers finally located the missing female student surnamed Guo and contacted her family to confirm her identity. She was frightened due to being lost and the darkness of the mountain, but her vital signs were assessed as stable. She is currently being escorted down the mountain by rescuers.
Before nightfall, the fire department called on the civilian rescue organization "Taiwan Rock Rescue Team" to provide drone support to quickly locate and search the target area, but no findings were made. Due to the darkness and the fact that the female student’s mobile phone had no signal, it was not possible to narrow down the search area using cell tower locations. Rescuers had to rely on search dogs and manual methods to venture into the mountain for the search.
Authorities revealed that the missing person is a female student from the affiliated junior high school of Erlin High School in Changhua County. The school’s teachers and students were on a field trip to Taipei, with a total of over 100 people from three classes. They were heading toward the main peak of Qixing Mountain via a hiking trail from Xiaoyoukeng. One special education student arrived at the main peak earlier than the others, but after turning back, failed to meet at the designated assembly point. Around 4 p.m., the teacher noticed the absence of the special education student and immediately sought help from police and firefighters.
(China Times)