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進入《TAIPEI TIMES 焦點》 Teenage girl survives 17-hour ordeal after being swept away by flash flood
/ Staff writer, with CNA
A teenager who was among eight people swept away in a flash flood on Sunday during a river tracing trip in New Taipei City survived the accident by clinging to a piece of driftwood and yesterday morning showed up at the home of a local resident asking for help, police said.
Ho Yu-chieh （何妤婕）, 15, arrived at the home of a man in the city’s Pinglin District （坪林） in the early hours of yesterday seeking help, police said, adding that the man called emergency services at 5:39am.
She was taken to hospital where staff examined her and found only bruises, but no serious injuries, police said.
Doctors at the hospital in the Sindian District （新店） said Ho would be kept at the facility for observation.
The girl was swept away during a river tracing trip about noon on Sunday when the water level of the Tainiuliao River （?牛寮橋） surged suddenly.
While two were rescued, three people, all adults in their 40s, were found later in the day with no vital signs and were pronounced dead on arrival at a hospital.
Yesterday at about 8am, the body of 13-year-old Lei Jo-yu （雷若瑜） was found about 200m away from where Ho went ashore.
The body of the eighth person, 44-year-old Hsu Chia-hui （許佳惠）, was found later yesterday.
Speaking to police after her 17-hour ordeal, Ho said that when she was swept downstream in the flash flood, she managed to grab a piece of driftwood and clung on to it until it snagged near a big rock close to the riverbank.
Ho said she rested on the rock overnight until the water level dropped, at which point she was able to wade ashore to look for help.
“She always was a very calm kid,” said her mother, who was also on the river tracing trip, but made it to safety when the flood struck.
The teenager also told rescue workers that she had noticed some bags on the other side of the river when she made it ashore near the 48km mark of Provincial Highway No. 9.
The information led rescue workers to the spot where Lei’s body was found.
Lei was on the trip with her parents and a younger brother. Her mother was one of the three adults who died in the accident.
新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES
