Missing hiker found dead in Chiayi County

Taipei, May 18 (CNA) A hiker who went missing in Chiayi County was found dead Sunday morning, according to local authorities who are still investigating the incident.

The Chiayi County Fire Department said in a press release that it received a report from the county's Police Bureau at around 10 a.m. Saturday that a man had filed a missing person report for his father, surnamed Lee (李).

Lee left Wednesday for "Holy Guanyin Peak" (聖觀音峰) in the county's mountainous Meishan Township, and was scheduled to return home on Friday, the fire department said, citing the missing person report.

The department said it dispatched personnel in a search operation that also involved the Chiayi County Police Bureau and the Chiayi Branch of the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency.

Fifteen people were deployed in the initial search on Saturday, but were unable to locate the missing individual, the department said.

During a second wave of the search, which began at 6 a.m. Sunday and involved 14 people, rescuers discovered a man lying face down in vegetation at 10:14 a.m., the department said.

They confirmed he was the missing hiker, who was "already clearly deceased," according to the fire department.

Aerial support from the National Airborne Service Corps was requested, and the body was successfully lifted away by helicopter at 1:15 p.m., the department said.

The case has been handed over to local police to determine the cause of the accident, the fire department said, without mentioning any indication of foul play.

The department urged the public to pay attention to their physical condition, weather forecasts, and trail information when hiking.