Kang Chi-cheng (康吉成), a manager at smartphone manufacturer HTC Corp, was found safe and sound yesterday after falling into a ravine on Nahushan (南湖大山) last Saturday, but he has had to wait another day to be airlifted off the mountain.
After his fall, he used his mobile phone to call for help, using the phone’s GPS system to give his coordinates to the Taichung Fire Department. However, bad weather over the past few days has created difficulties for the team searching for Kang by helicopter.
Kang was finally found by a rescue team at 11:48am yesterday and the team radioed in for a helicopter extraction. Cloudy weather prevented the immediate dispatch of a S-70 helicopter, which finally took off at 4:20pm.
Photo: courtesy of the Kang family
However, heavy clouds over the mountains continued to hamper the rescue and after two failed attempts, with dusk closing in, the helicopter crew decided to return to their base and try again today, weather permitting.
Fire Department officials said the rescue team would camp out with Kang to await today’s rescue efforts.
Since Kang had depleted his provisions and gone two days without food, the rescue team has been careful to provide him nutrition, giving him warm water to jump-start his digestive functions, officials said.
Kang’s elder sister said the entire family was overjoyed to hear he had been found, and added that the wait had been very hard on them. He had left on his hiking trip on Nov. 2.
Although Kang had been in contact with the Taichung Fire Department from the beginning of his ordeal, some people have said the department was too lax in its search and rescue efforts, not mobilizing civilian organizations to help in the search.
Taichung Fire Department chief Liao Ming-chuan (廖明川) said many days of rain have left mountain paths very muddy, which has hampered the search effort. Normal search and rescue procedures are to mobilize government personnel first and to utilize civilian forces only when technical difficulties occur, Liao said.
A total of 10 units were mobilized in the search and rescue effort, including civilian groups, totaling 290 men and four helicopters, he said.
Kang’s current condition was stable, Liao said, but he would be hospitalized for a medical check-up once he is brought down off the mountain.
Translated by Jake Chung, staff writer
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