aitung County river was recovered yesterday, local media reported. Tu Wei-chen, a sports major at National Taitung University, was attending an outdoor rescue training class in the eastern county's Peinan River along with some 20 classmates Tuesday when the incident occurred. Tu's body was found washed ashore downstream in the early hours of the morning and immediately sent to the Department of Health's Taitung Hospital, where his family members and instructor, Li Tsu-yuan, awaited.
Upon confirmation of Tu's death, some family members struck Li in a fit of rage and demanded that he kneel in front of the victim and apologize, reported the United Evening News. On the day of the incident, as many as 10 students were caught in the river's strong currents. Some were able to swim to shore while others were rescued. According to reports, Tu was trying to save a classmate when the current overpowered him. A search team of close to 100 people, including police flying over the area in helicopters, looked for Tu until nearly midnight.
Tu's mother told the newspaper that she could not bear the thought of living without her son.
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