Body of truck driver recovered, 2 still missing after Hualien quake

Taipei, April 13 (CNA) On the 11th day after the eastern county of Hualien was hit by a 7.2 magnitude earthquake, search and rescue workers recovered the body of a truck driver Saturday morning, with two other people still listed as missing.

The body of the truck driver was found in a quarry in the Ho Jen mining area of Hsiulin Township in Hualien at 11:45 a.m. Saturday.

After days of effort using heavy machinery to clear blocked routes, a search and rescue team reached the area where the body was recovered on Friday, an officer from Hualien County Fire Department said.

On Saturday, the team used the machinery to dig five meters down and found sandbags and the front of a white pickup truck, which was later identified by the employer as the vehicle driven by the missing driver, according to the officer.

The driver's body was recovered after the search and rescue team dug further, the officer added.

Meanwhile, a Singaporean couple believed to have been hiking Shakadang Trail when the earthquake struck remain unaccounted for.

The search is ongoing, with a search team entering the Shakadang waterfall area 2.4 kilometers from the start of the trail on Saturday morning.

With the confirmation of the driver's death, the official death toll from the Hualien earthquake on April 3 has risen to 17.