TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Authorities announced a temporary suspension to search and rescue operations in Hualien on Sunday (April 14), twelve days after the 7.2 magnitude earthquake struck Taiwan on April 3.
Due to the risk of landslides for rescuers, Hualien Fire Department decided to stop searching for the two people still missing in Taroko National Park, reported UDN. The Singaporean-Australian couple that was hiking near Shakadang Trail on the morning of April 3 remain unaccounted for.
On Sunday morning, family members of the Singaporean couple, along with rescue workers and local officials, joined a soul-calling ritual on the bridge near Shakadang trailhead, reported UDN. Attendees prayed that the souls of the missing couple, Neo Siew Choo and Sim Hwee Kok, would be able to find their way home and rest in peace.
On Saturday (April 13) at around 10:30 a.m., a search crew looking for the couple on Shakadang Trail was almost caught by a landslide. Fortunately, all crew members avoided injury by jumping into the stream at the canyon base, per UDN.
The quake death toll is 17 people, most of whom died in Taroko National Park. Just before noon on Saturday, rescue workers in another part of the park discovered the body of a truck driver surnamed Hsiao (蕭), who was one of the last three people still missing.
Authorities said that after the risk of rockfall has decreased and the landscape has settled, additional search operations will continue.
