Rescue Boat Capsizes, Tragedy Strikes—Volunteer Firefighter Dies in Line of Duty While Saving Others

An incident of drowning occurred yesterday (8th) at Guangxing Bridge, Xindian District, New Taipei City, Taiwan, resulting in two deaths. One was a member of the public who originally went swimming, and the other was a volunteer firefighter who tragically died during the rescue mission.

According to Taiwanese media reports, a party of five (three men and two women) arrived near Guangxing Bridge at around noon and began swimming at 1 p.m. However, at around 4 p.m., a 58-year-old man surnamed Chen from the group suddenly went missing, and his companions immediately called the police for help.

The fire department received the call and arrived at the downstream waterfall of Guangxing Bridge at 4:15 p.m. to begin the search and rescue operation. Unexpectedly, tragedy struck in succession. At 4:46 p.m., a rescue boat carrying five rescuers (four firefighters and one volunteer) capsized, causing several rescuers and a member of the public to fall into the water. At one point, it was reported that four people experienced OHCA (out-of-hospital cardiac arrest).

Currently, two firefighters who were sent to Xindian Tzu Chi Hospital have regained consciousness, but unfortunately, the missing man surnamed Chen and a volunteer firefighter surnamed Wu could not be saved despite being injected with 35 doses of epinephrine; they were ultimately declared dead.

The whole incident turned from a drowning rescue into a double tragedy, drawing attention across Taiwan and once again highlighting both water safety concerns and the high risks involved in search and rescue missions.