2 hikers found without vital signs after fall down icy slope on Yushan

Taipei, March 23 (CNA) A rescue crew has found without vital signs two hikers who fell 380 meters down a steep, icy slope on Yushan Saturday, authorities said.

The Nantou County Fire Department said it received a report at 10 a.m. Saturday about a male and female hiker who had fallen down a mountain slope while climbing the main and north peaks of Yushan.

At around dusk Saturday, an aerial search by the National Airborne Service Corps (NASC) located two bodies lying partially covered in snow at the bottom of a steep slope 380 meters from the hiking trail, the department said.

However, due to the highly uneven terrain and high winds at the time, authorities decided against attempting a helicopter rescue that evening, the department said.

Early Sunday, a rescue crew consisting of Nantou fire department and Yushan National Park officials set out from Paiyun Lodge, and located the two hikers, both without vital signs, at around 11 a.m.

The rescue team is currently in the process of moving the hikers' bodies to more level terrain, where they will call for an NASC helicopter to transport them down the mountain, an official involved in the rescue efforts told CNA.

In a statement late Saturday, Yushan National Park Headquarters warned hikers that conditions on its high elevations trails are "extremely dangerous" right now, as snow accumulated during the winter begins to melt and then frequently refreezes as temperatures dip below zero at night.

Yushan's main peak is Taiwan's highest mountain, with an elevation of 3,952 meters.