Reporters learned from the Yongjia County Fire Department in Wenzhou that at around 8:52 PM on January 15, an off-road vehicle was swept into the river by a flash flood in the Nanxi River area near Sanjiao Rock, Taishi Village, Shatou Town, Yongjia County. The driver’s fate remains unknown. During the incident, a friend who could swim voluntarily jumped into the water to rescue the driver, but due to the rapid current, the rescuer also got trapped in the water. The situation was critical. Upon receiving the alarm, the Yongjia County Fire Brigade quickly dispatched one emergency rescue vehicle and seven officers to the scene. Until 1:40 AM the next day, rescuers had still not found the missing person or the off-road vehicle.
It is understood that at 8:40 PM on the 15th, a city resident surnamed Ye and three hikers drove three off-road vehicles to the Nanxi River near the Sanjiao Rock Bridge in Shatou Town, Yongjia County, to test the vehicles’ water-crossing capability. Due to unfamiliarity with the terrain, Ye’s vehicle stopped shortly after entering the water, as the shore was covered with loose pebbles, causing the vehicle to slide downstream. Coupled with heavy rain and fast-flowing water, both the man and the vehicle were swept away, and his current status is unknown.
According to Mr. Shan, the first person to enter the water to rescue, they had met through a QQ group and were meeting in person for the first time to go out together. Around 4:00 PM, Mr. Ye (the missing person), a city resident, invited three hikers via the QQ group to go to the Nanxi River near the Sanjiao Rock Bridge in Shatou Town, Yongjia County, to test the vehicles’ water-crossing capability. Due to unfamiliarity with the terrain, Ye’s vehicle stopped shortly after entering the water, as the shore was covered with loose pebbles, causing the vehicle to slowly slide downstream. Since Mr. Ye couldn’t swim, he became frightened and struggled to climb onto the roof of the vehicle, then stood on the roof calling for help from the other three hikers on the shore. The hikers on the shore realized something was wrong, and Mr. Shan, who was the best swimmer among the three, immediately went into the water to rescue him. After swimming to the other side, he also did not find the drowning Mr. Ye. Mr. Shan was also unable to search further as his body was too cold from the water, so he immediately called for help. Mr. Shan said that they had been here before, but didn’t expect the water to suddenly become so deep. The hikers speculated that it was likely due to the recent days of continuous rainfall.
At around 9:33 PM, firefighters arrived at the scene. From the other three hikers, they learned that the missing person had fallen into the water 40 minutes earlier. As the exact location of where the person fell in was only roughly known, the firefighters decided to expand the search area and conduct a thorough search of the river surface within a 10-kilometer downstream range from the point where the person fell in. Due to the strong current and the many slippery pebbles along the shore, the firefighters searched the downstream section of the cold and rainy Nanxi River for more than two hours but still did not find the missing person. Until 1:40 AM the next day, rescuers had still not found the missing person or the off-road vehicle.