Keelung man tests authorities' patience with drunken harbor swims

Taipei, Oct. 8 (CNA) An unemployed, drunk man tried the patience of Keelung's fire department Tuesday by repeatedly jumping into the city's busy commercial harbor to swim, requiring multiple deployments of rescue teams to haul him out.

According to the Keelung City Fire Department, the 60-year-old man, surnamed Wang (王), jumped in the water at Keelung Maritime Plaza to swim Tuesday at 2 p.m., and then again at 5 p.m.

In both instances, firefighters and EMTs helped him return to shore and then sent him to the Ministry of Health and Welfare's Keelung Hospital for observation.

He was also referred to the police to be cited for illegal swimming, the department said.

At around 8 p.m., a visibly inebriated Wang returned to Maritime Plaza, stripped down to his boxer shorts, and leapt into the sea a third time.

Bystanders who saw Wang jump into the dark waters reported it, prompting the Keelung Fire Department to dispatch 12 firefighters in six trucks, while the port authority's fire and police departments sent personnel and a rescue raft.

Upon locating Wang, firefighters threw him a lifesaver and dragged him back to shore. After climbing up a dock ladder, Wang put on his clothes, smoked a cigarette, and began drinking from a mixed drink in his bag.

Wang told authorities he had lost his job as a cleaner two months ago, and was currently getting by on a NT$3,200 (US$104.69) subsidy.

He said that after having a few drinks, and acting on instructions from Ji Gong (濟公), a deity in the local folk religion, he had decided to return to the harbor again to go diving for clams.

At the urging of firefighters and police, Wang ultimately agreed to take an ambulance to Keelung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital for a check-up.

Tsao Chih-jung (曹志榮), captain of the Keelung Fire Department's Ren'ai Branch, condemned Wang's "rash behavior in jumping into the harbor" as a serious waste of the city's rescue resources.