A six-year-old girl pulled from a flooded home during last year’s devastating Mataian River (馬太鞍溪) flood yesterday thanked the search-and-rescue team who saved her.
At a Firefighter’s Day ceremony in Pingtung County, the girl, nicknamed Hsiao-yi (小沂), told her rescuers she wanted to become a firefighter when she grows up.
Floodwaters from an overflowing Mataian River barrier lake swept into Hualien County’s Guangfu Township (光復) on Sept. 23, killing 19 people, stranding dozens and causing widespread destruction.
Photo: Lo Hsin-chen, Taipei Times
Pingtung’s special search-and-rescue team from the county’s Bureau of Fire Emergency Services were among the first outside of Hualien to respond, rescuing 64 people, including Hsiao-yi.
At the time of the incident, her parents had informed the rescuers that they had not heard from the child or her grandparents, who she was with inside their home, which was heavily affected by floodwaters and mudflows.
With floodwaters reaching nearly one story high, her grandparents lifted her to a wooden roof beam, awaiting rescue.
Video of the scene, which went viral online, showed the rescuers breaking through the roof to pull the girl out of the house.
Her grandparents died in the disaster.
Pingtung County Commissioner Chou Chun-mi (周春米) presented Hsiao-yi with a teddy bear version of the Pingtung rescue squad, while the girl gave the team flowers and a handmade thank-you card.
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