TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — An Irishman who had gone missing while he was undergoing home quarantine was found dead on Wednesday (April 8) in Taipei City, in an apparent suicide.
The man, who was in his 50s, had arrived in Taiwan on a flight from Vietnam on March 17 and was told to begin a 14-day quarantine. However, when police followed up he had vacated his officially listed place of residence in Taipei's Xinyi District, reported SET News.
While police were searching for him, they received a report from a resident who found a hanged man's body on a hillside, next to a vegetable garden, at 7:37 a.m. on Wednesday morning, reported ETtoday. The preliminary assessment of officers at the scene was that he had hanged himself to death.
No suicide note was found at the scene, but the man's luggage was found lying near his body. Officials ruled out the possibility his death could have been caused by the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19).
Taiwan's representative office in Ireland has been informed and will assist in notifying the man's family members. An investigation has begun into the exact cause of death, including an autopsy to determine if he had any underlying conditions.
On March 17, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) raised the travel notice for Vietnam to Level 3, meaning anyone arriving in Taiwan from the country from that day must undergo a mandatory 14-day quarantine. At the time the man's body was discovered, his quarantine had ended a week earlier.
