More remains, car parts recovered from rural Kaohsiung ravine crash

Kaohsiung, Aug. 1 (CNA) More human remains and car wreckage were recovered by rescue workers on Friday after a car carrying a family of five fell into a ravine in Kaohsiung's Liouguei District on Wednesday night.

According to Kaohsiung's Fire Bureau, a rescue team scouring the scene of the accident discovered several human remains but was unable to identify to whom any of them belonged.

Bumpers and tires of the accident vehicle as well as baby products were also found scattered on the ground 150 meters below the road in the ravine, rescue workers said.

The Kaohsiung Police Department's Liouguei Precinct was notified of the incident by a witness surnamed Tsai (蔡) at the 81.1-kilometer mark of the Southern Cross-Island Highway near the Baolai Public Hot Springs at around 9:40 p.m. Wednesday.

In an interview Friday, Tsai said he saw a man -- believed to be the 33-year-old driver of the ill-fated car surnamed Lee (李) -- come back to ask for help three times before he disappeared.

Tsai said he was traveling in the opposite direction on the night of the accident, but had stopped his car after noticing the downpour had caused poor visibility and nearly washed out one side of the road ahead, where Lee's vehicle went off the road.

According to Tsai, the car initially landed in a pit slightly below and to the side of the collapsed road, and Lee climbed back up to ask for a flashlight or other light source so that he could "look for the others" before going back toward the car.

The second time he returned, Lee told Tsai "the children are still in the car," to which Tsai advised him to try and rescue them first, after which Lee left again.

When Lee climbed back to the road for a third time, he was last seen kneeling on the side of the increasingly washed-out surface and looking down the ravine shortly before disappearing himself, and the car was also no longer visible by then, Tsai said.

As of Friday, the only victim who has been identified was a 17-year-old girl surnamed Pan (潘), found Thursday morning.

Those who remain unaccounted for are believed to be Lee, his 37-year-old wife surnamed Wu (吳), their 3-year-old son and their infant daughter, according to the police investigation into the tragedy.