The body of a university student who jumped into Tamsui River (淡水河) to rescue a 93-year-old man near Dadaocheng Wharf (大稻埕) in Taipei on Tuesday was recovered early today, local authorities said.
The body of the 24-year-old Chinese Culture University student, surnamed Lee (李), was found at 6am about 30m upstream from the wharf, the Taipei City Fire Department said.
Lee's family verified the body’s identity, the department said.
Photo: Wang Kuan-jen, Taipei Times
The body of the man who Lee tried to rescue was found later on Tuesday near Zhongxiao Bridge (忠孝橋), about 650m upstream from Dadaocheng Wharf, hours after he and Lee went missing.
Lee was jogging with a friend, surnamed Kuo (郭), along the riverside at about 5am on Tuesday when they spotted a man struggling in the water near Dadaocheng Wharf, local Chinese-language media reported.
Kuo told reporters that Lee had gotten off work at 2am and, knowing Kuo was a night owl, asked him if he wanted to go out to eat.
After having a meal and chatting, Lee said he wanted to go for a 5km run as part of his exercise routine and asked Kuo to join him, he said.
As they were finishing their run at about 5am, they saw a man's head and hat bobbing in the river, Kuo said.
Kuo said that while he had never gone swimming with Lee, he knew Lee was an athlete at university and had spoken about wanting to get certified as a lifeguard.
Before Lee jumped into the river, Kuo said he asked him: "Are you okay?" and Lee replied: "Yes." Lee then jumped into the water, and soon after, Kuo lost sight of both men, he said.
When the Taipei Fire Department was called to the scene, rafts and drones were deployed to try to find the two men, while a woman identified by local media as Lee's sister waited at the wharf for updates.
Surveillance footage of the wharf area shows the 93-year-old man, surnamed Chang (張), slowly walking out onto an emergency pier, slipping through a guardrail and entering the river, Taipei police said.
The footage shows Lee jumping in to save Chang and making brief contact, before Chang's head goes under, police said.
About 20 seconds later, Lee is also submerged and does not resurface, police said.
From the shore, Kuo tries to toss them a lifebuoy, but the rope attached to it was too short to reach the men in the river, police said.
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