TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A hiker died after falling down a deep side slope near the summit of Mt. Yangtou in eastern Taiwan on Sunday (Nov. 7), the Liberty Times reported.

Citing reports they received, the Hualien County Fire Department said three hikers had set out to climb the mountain from the trailhead at around 3 a.m., with the incident happening approximately 5 a.m. One member of the group, a 22-year-old medical school student surnamed Tsai (蔡), fell down a 10-meter side slope near the 3.7-kilometer trail mark.

Other members of the group called out to him, but he was unresponsive, the fire department said.

The fire department, police, and Taroko National Park Headquarters formed a search-and-rescue team. The responders reached Tsai at around 3 p.m. only to find him bloodied and bruised and with no vital signs, per the Liberty Times.

The team carried Tsai’s body to a wide-open area, where a National Airborne Service Corps helicopter airlifted him to a local hospital.

At an elevation of 3,050 meters, Mt. Yangtou is regarded as one of the “four hardest mountains to climb along the Central Cross-Island Highway,” all of which are on the list of Taiwan’s 100 Peaks. The other three peaks are Mt. Bilu, Mt. Baigu, and Mt. Pingfeng.

The trailhead is located at the 133.1-km mark of the Central Cross-Island Highway (Provincial Highway 8) at an altitude of more than 2,000 m above sea level. The trail is 4.1-km long, and it usually takes about 10 hours for the average hiker to complete a round trip.