Taroko National Park Headquarters yesterday closed the east end of the Tunnel of Nine Turns at Taroko Gorge after a Chinese tourist was hit on the head by a falling rock and later died.
The west end of the cliff tunnel will remain open to tourists, the park administration said.
However, it urged tourists to remain alert when exploring the gorge although it has taken all possible measures to protect visitors from falling rocks, it said.
The victim, identified as 28-year-old Wang Chieh (王捷) from Shenyang, was rushed to the Tzu-Chi Buddhist General Hospital in Hualien City on Friday after being injured at the park, about 40km northwest of the city.
Wang was struck while heading toward her tour bus after a walk through the scenic gorge. She died in hospital because of severe head and internal injuries.
Wang’s family arrived in Taiwan earlier yesterday, said Wayne Liu (劉喜臨), executive secretary of the Taipei-based Taiwan Strait Tourism Association.
The association will help her family collect the NT$2 million (US$62,000) in compensation it is entitled to based on the accident insurance the park takes out on tourists’ behalf, Liu said.
The park administration said falling rocks have been a major threat to the safety of tourists in the park, one of the most popular destinations in Taiwan for foreign tourists.
Despite taking extensive precautions, such as providing free safety helmets, removing unstable rocks from the cliff, installing more warning signs and insuring tourists while they are in the park, accidents still happen, which the park administration said was “regrettable.”
A preliminary probe found that Wang was hit by a rock that broke away from the mountain because of natural forces rather than being pushed off by monkeys as some had speculated.
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