Holding chrysanthemums, dozens of people yesterday filed an appeal with the government regarding an unsuccessful mountain rescue operation that might have contributed to the death of a mountain climber earlier this year.
“I would like to remind all young people that until the government creates an effective mountain rescue system, they should make sure they don’t go mountain climbing alone,” said Tu Li-fang (杜麗芳), whose son, Chang Po-wei (張博崴), a student at National Chung Shan Medical University, got lost while climbing Baigu Mountain (白姑大山) in Nantou County on Feb. 28.
“You’d better go in a group of at least three and with a mountain guide,” Tu said.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
Chang’s body was eventually found near Beigang River (北港溪) in Yunlin County on April 20, only a day after his family had turned to two mountain climbers for help.
Prior to his discovery, local police, the fire department and the military had spent 51 days looking for Chang.
The case demonstrates that the mountain rescue system is plagued with problems, said Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Tien Chiu-chin (田秋堇), who accompanied Chang’s family as it filed an appeal with the Control Yuan.
“Rescuers turned down suggestions that they should track Chang’s possible whereabouts based on the cellphone signal sent from a call he made to his girlfriend to tell her that he was lost,” Tien said, adding that the rescue services did not use a helicopter at the beginning of the search.
Huang Kuo-shu (黃國書), the mountain climber who found Chang’s body, said the government agencies had failed to act promptly and effectively because they did not designate a commander to coordinate the rescue crews.
A relative of Lin Sung-wei (林松蔚), another climber whose body was found last month after Lin had been missing for 12 days on Cingshuei Mountain (清水大山) in Hualien County, said that while he was grateful for the efforts of the government rescue teams, they should receive better training.
“How can [rescuers] search for missing mountain climbers when they are not familiar with the mountains?” he asked.
Chinese Taipei Alpine Association president Chiang Chi-hsiang (江啟祥) said better cooperation between rescue teams and local residents was essential for mountain rescues because not all the rescuers at the National Fire Agency — the agency in charge of rescue missions — know the specifics of all the nation’s mountainous areas.
The daughter of Chen Teng-sung (陳登嵩), who died after falling off the side of Mount Huangdi Temple (皇帝殿) in Shihding (石碇), New Taipei City (新北市), on March 25, said she was saddened when she joined the search for her missing father the next day and saw that the search team only consisted of six rescuers.
“The government has to change its mindset. I used to live in Japan. An incident like this would involve a search team of not just six people, but 70 or 80 people,” she said.
Control Yuan member Huang Huang-hsiung (黃煌雄) accepted the appeal and said he would launch an investigation into the rescue system.
Considering that most countries issue more than five denominations of banknotes, the central bank has decided to redesign all five denominations, the bank said as it prepares for the first major overhaul of the banknotes in more than 24 years. Central bank Governor Yang Chin-lung (楊金龍) is expected to report to the Legislative Yuan today on the bank’s operations and the redesign’s progress. The bank in a report sent to the legislature ahead of today’s meeting said it had commissioned a survey on the public’s preferences. Survey results showed that NT$100 and NT$1,000 banknotes are the most commonly used, while NT$200 and NT$2,000
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday reported the first case of a new COVID-19 subvariant — BA.3.2 — in a 10-year-old Singaporean girl who had a fever upon arrival in Taiwan and tested positive for the disease. The girl left Taiwan on March 20 and the case did not have a direct impact on the local community, it said. The WHO added the BA.3.2 strain to its list of Variants Under Monitoring in December last year, but this was the first imported case of the COVID-19 variant in Taiwan, CDC Deputy Director-General Lin Ming-cheng (林明誠) said. The girl arrived in Taiwan on
ANNUAL EVENT: Two massive Pokemon balloons are to be set up in Daan Park, with an event zone operating from 10am to 6pm This year’s Taipei Floral Picnic is to be held at Daan Park today and tomorrow, featuring an exclusive Pokemon Go event, a themed food market, a coffee rave picnic area and stage performances, the Taipei Department of Information and Tourism said yesterday. Two massive Pokemon balloons are to be set up in the park as attractions, with an exclusive event zone operating from 10am to 6pm, it said. Participants who complete designated tasks on-site would have a chance to receive limited-edition souvenirs, it added. People could also try the newly launched game Pokemon Pokopia in the trial area, the department said. Three PokeStops are
South Korea is planning to revise its controversial electronic arrival card, a step Taiwanese officials said prompted them to hold off on planned retaliatory measures, a South Korean media report said yesterday. A Yonhap News Agency report said that the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs is planning to remove the “previous departure place” and “next destination” fields from its e-arrival card system. The plan, reached after interagency consultations, is under review and aims to simplify entry procedures and align the electronic form with the paper version, a South Korean ministry official said. The fields — which appeared only on the electronic form
RSS