Rockfall on Taichung hiking trail leaves 4 without vital signs, 1 injured

Taichung, June 27 (CNA) Four people lost vital signs and one was injured Saturday after being struck by falling rocks while hiking near Butterfly Valley Waterfall in Taichung, authorities said.

The accident occurred at the 1.4-kilometer mark of the Butterfly Valley hiking trail in the Guguan area of Taichung's Heping District, according to the Taichung Fire Bureau.

The bureau said it received a report at 3:13 p.m. and dispatched rescuers to the scene, where they found two men and two women without vital signs. A 70-year-old woman sustained bruises.

The five were part of a 16-member hiking group that had traveled from Taipei at 7:25 a.m. and started hiking at 11 a.m., the bureau said.

The other members of the group descended the trail on their own. They included former Transportation Minister Tsai Duei (蔡堆).

As of 8 p.m., police and search-and-rescue personnel remained at the scene.

Rescuers used ropes to pull the four people back up to the trail and were carrying them down the mountain by hand, the bureau said.