Police yesterday rejected allegations they had dragged their feet in searching for Ralf Klausnitzer, a German professor who went missing in late March after arriving in Taiwan earlier that month as part of an academic exchange program.
The Hualien Police Bureau has conducted seven search-and-rescue operations since Tamkang University first reported Klausnitzer missing on April 2, but has not yet located him, bureau official Chen Yi-wen (陳奕?) told reporters.
The 57-year-old literature professor, who was invited by the university in New Taipei City to give a lecture in late March, traveled to Hualien after completing the assignment and spent the night of March 25 in a local hotel, Chen said.
Photo courtesy of the Sincheng Police Precinct via CNA
Klausnitzer’s last sighting was recorded by surveillance footage on March 26, showing him exiting a bus at Taroko Gorge’s Tiansiang Village (天祥) at 9:04am, entering Siangde Temple at 9:27am and leaving 20 minutes later, Chen said.
Although the police organized a search-and-rescue mission on April 2, it was suspended the following day after the region was struck by an earthquake measuring 7.2 on the Richter scale, which killed at least 18 people and injured more than 1,100, Chen added.
Rescue efforts resumed after power was restored and rockfalls removed, with multiple visits to local residents conducted in April and May, he said.
Each mission lasted five to six hours, including searches along the riverbed using drones, but no trace of Klausnitzer was found, Chen said.
The police also released Klausnitzer’s image in May, calling for any tips from the public to restart the search, but no new information has been received so far, Chen said.
The German newspaper Berliner Zeitung on Monday published a letter by Klausnitzer’s parents, who said they were upset with the Taiwanese and German authorities’ handling of the case.
Klausnitzer’s parents questioned why the search did not begin earlier, given that the hotel their son stayed at must have become aware of his disappearance on March 27.
Another complication hindering the search is the lack of formal diplomatic ties between Taiwan and Germany, Klausnitzer’s parents said, criticizing the lukewarm response by the German Federal Foreign Office.
Klausnitzer’s two sons arrived in Hualien on June 9 to survey the area and provide DNA samples to the police, but were left with troubling questions that led them to wonder “whether any information was being withheld,” they said.
Yesterday, Hualien police reiterated that anyone with information on Klausnitzer’s whereabouts should contact them.
STAY AWAY: An official said people should avoid disturbing snakes, as most do not actively attack humans, but would react defensively if threatened Taitung County authorities yesterday urged the public to stay vigilant and avoid disturbing snakes in the wild, following five reported snakebite cases in the county so far this year. Taitung County Fire Department secretary Lin Chien-cheng (林建誠) said two of the cases were in Donghe Township (東河) and involved the Taiwan habus, one person was bit by a Chinese pit viper near the South Link Railway and the remaining two were caused by unidentified snakes. He advised residents near fields to be cautious of snakes hiding in shady indoor areas, especially when entering or leaving their homes at night. In case of a
A tropical disturbance off the southeastern coast of the Philippines might become the first typhoon of the western Pacific typhoon season, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The system lacks a visible center and how it would develop is only likely to become clear on Sunday or Monday, the CWA said, adding that it was not yet possible to forecast the potential typhoon's effect on Taiwan. The American Meteorological Society defines a tropical disturbance as a system made up of showers and thunderstorms that lasts for at least 24 hours and does not have closed wind circulation.
ENERGY RESILIENCE: Although Alaska is open for investments, Taiwan is sourcing its gas from the Middle East, and the sea routes carry risks, Ho Cheng-hui said US government officials’ high-profile reception of a Taiwanese representative at the Alaska Sustainable Energy Conference indicated the emergence of an Indo-Pacific energy resilience alliance, an academic said. Presidential Office Secretary-General Pan Men-an (潘孟安) attended the conference in Alaska on Thursday last week at the invitation of the US government. Pan visited oil and gas facilities with senior US officials, including US Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, US Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy and US Senator Daniel Sullivan. Pan attending the conference on behalf of President William Lai (賴清德) shows a significant elevation in diplomatic representation,
Credit departments of farmers’ and fishers’ associations blocked a total of more than NT$180 million (US$6.01 million) from being lost to scams last year, National Police Agency (NPA) data showed. The Agricultural Finance Agency (AFA) said last week that staff of farmers’ and fishers’ associations’ credit departments are required to implement fraud prevention measures when they serve clients at the counter. They would ask clients about personal financial management activities whenever they suspect there might be a fraud situation, and would immediately report the incident to local authorities, which would send police officers to the site to help, it said. NPA data showed
RSS