A 68-year-old resident of Taoyuan, Lin Tsai-hsi, went missing on the 17th while hiking in the Shenmu (Sacred Tree) area of Zhentoushan’s Xibao region with a tour group. Rescue personnel searched for six days without success. On the 20th, Typhoon Usagi hit Taiwan, forcing a suspension of the search. On the evening of the 22nd, as weather conditions improved, around 50 police, firefighters, and civilian rescue team members were redeployed, setting up camp in the mountains and commencing search operations at sunrise today.
The Fire Department pointed out that at around 9 a.m. on the 17th, the Yangmei Hiking Team, composed of 42 hiking enthusiasts, entered the Shenmu group in Zone B of Zhentoupu, at an altitude of about 2,000 meters. Around 3 p.m. when they were returning to the trailhead and taking attendance, they discovered that team member Lin Tsai-hsi had not come down with the group. Attempts to contact Lin via his mobile phone went unanswered, prompting them to immediately report the incident to the police.
As the location where Lin went missing was unknown, police and firefighters initially conducted a step-by-step search along the hiking path taken by the group, but after six days there was still no progress. Chen Meng-chieh, deputy commander of the Fire Bureau’s Second Battalion, said that all reachable areas had been searched, and they had also used ropes to descend along the hiking team’s path as much as possible. However, due to Typhoon Usagi hitting Taiwan on the 21st, for safety reasons the rescue team had to withdraw from the mountain and wait until after the typhoon passed to resume the search.
Chen Meng-chieh said that because several days of searching had yielded no results, it is not ruled out that Lin may have had an accident in the deep mountains, making the search more difficult. Starting today, the search area and routes will be expanded further, but the post-typhoon conditions may have caused landslides on mountain paths, and power outages in some mountainous areas have also increased the difficulty of the search. Ropes will be used to descend into cliffs and valleys during the search.
“We won’t give up on any hope!” Chen Meng-chieh pointed out that on the evening of the 22nd, the rescue team was reorganized and headed back up the mountain, first setting up camp at the trailhead for the night. In addition to 30 personnel from the Taoyuan County police and fire departments, the rescue effort also mobilized the Northern Taiwan Search and Rescue Team of the Republic of China Mountain Rescue Association, the Pan Shi Rescue Team, and the 911 Emergency Rescue Team, totaling over 50 people, hoping to soon bring good news.