The body of a female Malaysian hiker, who died while climbing Taiwan’s second-highest peak, Snow Mountain (Hsuehshan 雪山), was airlifted out by rescue helicopter yesterday.
Due to windy conditions in the mountains, it took two attempts by the twin-rotor B234 Chinook helicopter to airlift the body, before making its way to a riverside park in Greater Taichung’s Dongshih District (東勢) yesterday afternoon.
“The helicopter arrived at the scene at 6:54am, but encountered very strong winds in the mountains. The strong swirling wind made it impossible to hook up the ropes,” a Taichung Fire Bureau official said.
Rescue crews stretchered the body to open ground near a resting hut on the mountain trail, then, once the wind had subsided in the afternoon, the helicopter was called in again.
“The body was airlifted at 2:25pm,” the official said.
The B234 is a civilian model of the Boeing CH-47 Chinook helicopter, made for the nation’s airborne rescue services.
The hiker, 42, was with an 11-member group attempting to climb the 3,886m mountain when she fell into a ravine at the 10.7km mark on the trail.
Fellow hikers went down the ravine, but found the woman dead from severe head wounds.
When the incident was reported on Friday, authorities dispatched in a fire crew from nearby Lishan (梨山) and an Aboriginal Bunun alpine rescue team from the area’s Kalibuan Village.
The two rescue teams reached the accident site early yesterday morning to provide ground support for the helicopter airlift operation.
Authorities said local medical staff in Dongshih performed a post mortem to verify the cause of death as police finalized an investigation report.
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