TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Four hikers were killed and one was injured Saturday after a rockfall struck a 16-member hiking group on the Butterfly Valley Waterfall Trail in Taichung’s Heping District.
The Taichung City Fire Department received a report at 3:13 p.m. that hikers had been struck by falling rocks near the 1.4-kilometer mark of the trail, per CNA. Four people had no vital signs, while a 70-year-old woman suffered bruises and other minor injuries.
The fire department dispatched 12 fire engines, 30 firefighters, four volunteer firefighters, and two members of a special search and rescue team to the scene. Rescuers found two men and two women showing no signs of life.
The injured woman suffered contusions and was treated before being transported to a hospital.
Former Transportation Minister Tsai Duei (蔡堆) was among the hikers. He was able to descend the trail under his own power with the rest of the group’s uninjured members.
According to police, the hiking group departed Taipei at 7:25 a.m. and arrived at the trail in Heping District at about 11 a.m. Weather conditions were clear, and the group proceeded with its planned hike.
Hikers descending the mountain said some members of the group had already crossed the river and were eating near the waterfall, while others stopped behind them to take photographs. They then heard a loud crash as rocks fell from above, fatally striking several hikers, per the report.
Rescue workers used ropes to recover the victims and transport them back to the trail before carrying them down the mountain. Police are assisting the remaining hikers with their return home while investigating the cause of the rockfall.
