A Taiwanese woman was found dead in a small town in the southern Czech Republic after she went missing during a tour in central Europe earlier this month.
According to the Southeast Travel Service Co (東南旅行社), the woman, surnamed Huang (黃), joined the company’s 10-day tour to Austria and the Czech Republic.
The tour group checked into a hotel in the Czech city of Cesky Krumlov on the fifth day of the tour, the company said, adding that the tour guide did not arrange any activity for the night and left the tourists in the group to explore the town by themselves.
However, Huang did not return to the hotel that night. The tour guide and a friend of Huang spent the night trying to find her, but failed, the company said.
The tour guide reported to the police the next day that Huang was missing, the agency said, adding that her whereabouts remained unknown even after the tour group returned to Taiwan on March 14.
The company said it was informed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that police in Cesky Kurmlov had found a female body and suspected that it was Huang, adding that it contacted Huang’s family and dispatched a representative to accompany them to the Czech Republic to identify the body and handle the funeral.
The company said that official documents had to be translated into English before local police could verify the victim’s DNA and allow the body to be cremated.
The process might take some time because Czech government offices had been closed until Monday due to the Easter holiday, the company said.
“Taiwan’s representative office in Prague was informed about the missing tourist on the evening of March 10 and immediately provided a translator to help the tour guide file a missing person’s report at the local police station,” ministry spokesperson Eleanor Wang (王珮玲) said
Wang said that the office requested the police to continue searching for Huang, adding it was told on March 18 that the police might have found her body.
It then informed the travel agency and Huang’s family about the news, she added.
The company said it regretted what happened to Huang and advised tourists to watch out for their own safety and avoid going out alone at night in places they are not familiar with.
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
Foreign travelers entering Taiwan on a short layover via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are receiving NT$600 gift vouchers from yesterday, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it hopes the incentive would boost tourism consumption at the airport. The program, which allows travelers holding non-Taiwan passports who enter the country during a layover of up to 24 hours to claim a voucher, aims to promote attractions at the airport, the agency said in a statement on Friday. To participate, travelers must sign up on the campaign Web site, the agency said. They can then present their passport and boarding pass for their connecting international
Temperatures in northern Taiwan are forecast to reach as high as 30°C today, as an ongoing northeasterly seasonal wind system weakens, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said yesterday that with the seasonal wind system weakening, warmer easterly winds would boost the temperature today. Daytime temperatures in northern Taiwan and Yilan County are expected to range from 28°C to 30°C today, up about 3°C from yesterday, Tseng said. According to the CWA, temperature highs in central and southern Taiwan could stay stable. However, the weather is expected to turn cooler starting tonight as the northeasterly wind system strengthens again
Taiwan sweltered through its hottest October on record, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, the latest in a string of global temperature records. The main island endured its highest average temperature since 1950, CWA forecaster Liu Pei-teng said. Temperatures the world over have soared in recent years as human-induced climate change contributes to ever more erratic weather patterns. Taiwan’s average temperature was 27.381°C as of Thursday, Liu said. Liu said the average could slip 0.1°C by the end of yesterday, but it would still be higher than the previous record of 27.009°C in 2016. "The temperature only started lowering around Oct. 18 or 19
RSS