At around 9 a.m. on the 11th, the Pingtung County Fire Bureau received a report from the public stating that a 50-year-old female hiker surnamed Gan had accidentally fallen over 30 meters down a valley while walking 1.1 kilometers along the trail on Beidawu Mountain in Taiwu Township. Due to poor weather conditions with thick fog in the mountains at the time, an air rescue helicopter was unable to take off. When rescuers arrived at the scene and pulled her up, she showed no obvious signs of life.
“My wife just fell into the valley right before my eyes,” said her husband, surnamed Li, who was hiking with her. He reported the incident to local firefighters in a panicked voice. It is understood that the couple were both members of the Central Taiwan Wahua Mountain Friends Club, and a group of 24 people had traveled south to go hiking during the National Day holiday. Yesterday morning, they were preparing to descend the mountain. Fellow hikers noted that the valley was shrouded in thick fog, the weather was bad, and the mountain path was very slippery. She had accidentally stepped into empty space and fallen into the valley.
Due to adverse weather conditions, the air rescue helicopter was unable to take off. The Pingtung County Fire Bureau immediately dispatched personnel from Taiwu, Wanluan, the Special Search and Rescue Team, and volunteer firefighters—totaling six vehicles and 19 people—to carry out the rescue mission. They arrived on foot at the accident site at 11:43 a.m. Rescuers then used rope descent and hoisting methods to pull Ms. Gan up from the valley to a mountain trail platform. Her fellow hikers performed CPR on-site for 60 minutes, but she was found to have suffered a head laceration and multiple fractures, and unfortunately could not be saved.
In the afternoon, light rain began falling in the mountains. Everyone worked together to carry her down the mountain. The entire rescue operation took more than eight hours, and she was eventually transported to National Jen Hospital in Pingtung City by ambulance. Prosecutors and police are scheduled to conduct an autopsy today.