“How is it the same person again!” Ye Naijing, a female teacher who went missing while climbing Mount Mayang in the Dabashan Range of Jianshan Township, Hsinchu County, finally sent a text message reporting she was safe after a four-hour joint search operation by the Zhubei-Miaoli Fire Department on the morning of the third. Firefighters discovered that she had also gone missing in the same area three years ago, and that this time yet another large-scale rescue operation had once again consumed social resources, so they plan to seek reimbursement through legal means.
Mount Mayang is located in the middle section of the northern ridge of Dabashan, at an altitude of over 2,800 meters. Ye Naijing, a 32-year-old female teacher from Tainan City, recently applied online to register her mountain entry with the Hsinchu County Police Bureau. On the 28th of last month, she entered the mountains alone from Mount Mayang, originally planning to descend at Qikah Lodge in Taichung on the 2nd.
As Typhoon Saola approached, the central government announced a ban on mountain entry starting July 31st, requiring hikers still in the mountains to evacuate. The county police department’s Civic Defense and Security Section successively contacted over a hundred hikers to clear Hsinchu County’s mountainous regions.
After most hikers had evacuated, only Ye remained out of contact. When she failed to appear as scheduled two days prior, her anxious family reported the situation, prompting the Zhubei-Miaoli Fire Department to immediately launch a rescue mission.
Wu Wutai, director of the Hsinchu County Fire Department, explained that late the previous night, personnel were dispatched to the Yu’lao area of Jianshi to send Ye a text message via GPS asking for her status, but there was no response. Due to the stormy weather and poor visibility and mountain conditions during the typhoon, the fire department decided to enter the mountains early the next morning to conduct the search.
Four hours after the rescuers entered the mountains, at around 3 p.m. yesterday, Ye sent back a text message: “At the Sumida Mountain Hut, food is sufficient and I am safe.” The county fire department immediately recalled the search team.
When checking Ye’s identity, firefighters found that during Typhoon Morakot in 2009, she had also gone missing along with four hiking club members from National Taiwan Normal University in the Dabashan area. At that time, the Zhubei-Miaoli Fire Department also formed a rescue team and used a helicopter to search the mountains.
Since Ye has now gone missing twice during mountain hikes, consuming significant social resources, Wu Wutai also stated that this time they would not rule out studying how to seek reimbursement for the rescue costs under the Disaster Prevention and Rescue Act.