By KHT Staff. Images via Lai-Media.
PINGTUNG — A 13-year-old boy was rescued alive near Laiyi Bridge (來義大橋) in Pingtung County on Oct. 9, nearly four hours after firefighters received a report that he had disappeared in the water.
The boy had been barbecuing and playing in the water with his mother and other relatives and friends when he fell into the water at a sediment-control dam, according to police cited by the Central News Agency.
The Pingtung County Fire Department (屏東縣政府消防局) received the call at 12:53 p.m. and dispatched 18 personnel, including three divers, along with nine vehicles, a rescue boat and two drones.
Strong currents hampered repeated underwater searches. Two excavators supplied by the county’s water resources department arrived at 3:35 p.m. and began digging to cut off the flow.
At 4:35 p.m., after the current weakened, rescuers reported finding the boy at the intake of the Erfeng irrigation canal (二峰圳). He was conscious with stable vital signs and was taken to Chaozhou Antai Hospital (潮州安泰醫院) for examination.
Public Television Service reported that the boy had been trapped inside a culvert with a swimming ring helping keep him above the water. The report also noted warning signs prohibiting water play in the area.
