Rescue team hikes supplies to more than 300 tourists trapped in mountain resort after landslides block road

Fire Bureau search and rescue personnel hiked 20 kilometers carrying essential supplies to a a group of tourists and employees trapped at a mountain resort in Yilan County after heavy rains caused landslides that blocked access to the area over the weekend.

266 tourists and 37 employees are spending the third day at the Mingchi Villa in the Mingchi National Forest Recreation Area after rains generated by a combination of the northeast monsoon and Tropical Storm Nesat caused at least three sections of Provincial Highway 7 to become impassable due to landslides.

According to reports, the resort has sufficient food, but 19 people are in need of medicine, including a cancer patient. The resort is also without power after running out of diesel fuel for the emergency generators at noon yesterday.

The National Airborne Service Corps originally planned to airdrop supplies using a black hawk helicopter scheduled to depart at 7:00 am this morning. However, the flight was cancelled due to poor weather conditions.

Media reports this morning said that the Yilan County Fire Department planned to deliver the medicines by drone, while road repair crew would carry diesel fuel up the mountain on foot.

At 11:00 am, 26 fire department search and rescue personnel set off from the 84 kilometer mark of highway 7, carrying medicines and other supplies across a section of road affected by a landslide, and then a further 20 kilometers to the resort.

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