Taroko park partly closed after death

The family wished to ship the body of the victim, Wang Jie, 28, back to China, an official with Taiwan's travel association, was cited by the Central News Agency as saying.

Wang was pronounced dead by doctors late Friday night after she had been hit in the head by a falling rock during a trip to the eastern county's Taroko National Park earlier in the day.

The official, describing it as an accident, said it may be difficult to ship the body back to Shenyang City in northeastern China.

But the travel agent that had arranged Wang's tour will do its best to fulfill the family's wish.

Liu Hsi-lin, an official with the Tourism Bureau, said the family will receive a compensation of NT$2 million from the insurance policy that the travel agent had bought for the tourists.

The site of the accident remained closed yesterday.

The Taroko park administration expressed regret over the accident despite all the precautionary measures it had taken.

The victim, from Shenyang, China, was among a group of 700 Chinese tourists. The spectacular Taroko Gorge is a favorite spot for local and foreign tourists.

Taroko National Park Headquarters decided to close the east end of the Tunnel of Nine Turns because of the incident.

The west end of the cliff tunnel will remain open to tourists, the headquarters said. The park administration urged tourists, however, to remain alert while exploring the gorge even though all possible measures have been taken to protect visitors from falling rocks.

Despite taking extensive precautions, such as providing safety helmets without charge, removing unstable rocks on the cliff, installing more warning signs and insuring tourists in the park, accidents still have happened, which the park administration described as “regrettable.”

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