A 27-year-old man surnamed Zhang from Zhunan and his friend, surnamed Xiao, who is in his 50s, went hiking on Jiashan Mountain in Nanzhuang Township, Miaoli County, on the 11th. Xiao went down the mountain first, but later Zhang failed to return as expected. Police and firefighters searched the mountain overnight but found nothing until the man was spotted by indigenous people early yesterday morning upstream of Fengmei Creek. He was taken to a police station and then reunited with his parents.
On the morning of the 11th, the 27-year-old Zhang and his 50-something friend Xiao hiked together on Jiashan Mountain. Around 2 p.m. during their descent, they encountered an afternoon thunderstorm. The two ran to a shelter to take cover from the rain. When the rain eased, Xiao went down the mountain first, agreeing to meet Zhang at a pavilion near the mountain exit. Xiao waited until nearly 7 p.m. but Zhang still didn’t show up, and his phone was unreachable, so Xiao reported the case to police at 7:30 p.m.
After receiving the report, police and firefighters, along with local youth volunteers, searched the mountain in shifts. There was no sign of Zhang that night, but rescuers refused to give up hope and continued searching in the mountains for three consecutive days. On the 13th, police and firefighters detected Zhang’s mobile phone signal in the Zhubei and Zhudong areas and believed he had already descended the mountain, so they withdrew that night—but still asked local youth volunteers to keep searching.
Yesterday at 9:30 a.m., indigenous people from the nearby Luchang Tribe, while inspecting water pipeline routes, spotted Zhang upstream of Fengmei Creek in Nanzhuang Township, near Mount Khanini. They brought him to the Lujia Police Station. Zhang said he had been wandering in the mountains these past few days and drank mountain spring water when he got hungry. Rescuers believe he may have taken a wrong turn toward the railway tracks while trying to descend from Shelter No. 4, causing him to lose his way. Additionally, since Zhang was moving around while rescuers were searching, they failed to spot him.