Retired Man, 67, Dies in Horrifying 70-Meter Fall Down a Mountain Valley on a Bike.

A 67-year-old man surnamed Chen was involved in a fatal bicycle accident on Taiwan Provincial Highway 7 in Yilan County on Tuesday morning. Chen was reportedly riding his bicycle alone on the mountainous road when he lost control for unknown reasons and fell 70 meters down a steep slope. Emergency services were alerted by a member of the public, and a large number of personnel and vehicles were dispatched to the scene to conduct a grueling search and rescue operation.

As specialized search and rescue personnel bravely rappelled into the nearby ravine to make contact with the injured party, they professionally assessed the situation and found that Chen had already shown signs of death. Subsequently, rescue personnel worked tirelessly to perform a difficult operation to extract Chen's body and hang it on a rope, with the hope of quickly bringing the deceased back to the surface and handing him over to the police for further investigation to determine the exact cause of death.

According to a Central News Agency reporter, the accident occurred on Tuesday morning in a remote area of Yilan County's Datong Township along Taiwan Provincial Highway 7. The 67-year-old Chen was riding his bicycle at the time of the incident when he suddenly lost control and plummeted 70 meters down a steep slope. Due to the rugged terrain and vast elevation difference along the highway, search and rescue operations are often extremely difficult, if not impossible, in such cases.

The Yilan County Fire Department quickly dispatched a team of firefighters and a specialized search and rescue team to the scene, bringing with them rope equipment and rescue gear in an effort to grasp the golden rescue window. Upon arrival, the search and rescue personnel found that the accident occurred 70 meters down from the road surface, with steep cliffs and dense vegetation, making it difficult to assess the situation from afar.

To gain access to the injured party as quickly as possible, rescue personnel immediately set up a rope system, and specialized team members wearing equipment rappelled deep into the steep and treacherous slope to search for Chen. After a thorough search, the rescue personnel finally located Chen and his bicycle at the bottom of the slope. However, unfortunately, the on-site rescue personnel initially assessed Chen's injuries and found that he had suffered severe trauma from the fall, showing no signs of life. As a result, he was pronounced dead on the scene and was not sent to the hospital for further treatment.

In the face of this deep-slope accident, the recovery operation for Chen's body and the bicycle became another major challenge. Due to the 70-meter vertical drop, it was almost impossible to lift the body back to the road surface by hand labor alone. The fire department immediately adjusted their rescue strategy and used a rope hanging system as the main means of operation. The rescue personnel carefully secured Chen's body to a stretcher at the bottom of the slope and, using precise calculations and a combination of pulleys and power winches, slowly and steadily lifted the body and related evidence up to the road surface on Taiwan Provincial Highway 7.

The entire rescue and hanging operation required the highest level of teamwork and physical effort to ensure that the task was completed safely and with dignity. Taiwan Provincial Highway 7, which connects the mountainous areas of Yilan and Taoyuan counties, has a rugged terrain with frequent steep cliffs and deep valleys, attracting many cyclists and motorcyclists who enjoy challenging themselves or getting close to nature. However, the mountain road poses many potential risks, including sharp turns, steep slopes, and narrow shoulders, which put the attention and vehicle control skills of road users to the test.

As outdoor recreational activities such as mountain biking have become more popular, the focus of social attention has shifted to safety protection for mountain roads and the awareness of risk among road users. In the wake of such accidents, relevant authorities often urge cyclists and drivers to be aware of road conditions, control their speeds, and be mindful of their own abilities, in order to avoid similar tragedies from happening again.