Taipei: Four people lost vital signs and one was injured Saturday after being struck by falling rocks while hiking near Butterfly Valley Waterfall in Taichung, authorities said. The accident occurred at the 1.4-kilometer mark of the Butterfly Valley hiking trail in the Guguan area of Taichung's Heping District.

According to Focus Taiwan, the Taichung Fire Bureau reported receiving a call at 3:13 p.m. and promptly dispatched rescuers to the scene. Upon arrival, they found two men and two women who had lost vital signs, while a 70-year-old woman had sustained bruises.

The group of five was part of a larger 16-member hiking group that had traveled from Taipei early in the morning at 7:25 a.m. and commenced their hike at 11 a.m. The remaining members of the group, including former Transportation Minister Tsai Duei, safely descended the trail on their own.

As of 8 p.m., police and search-and-rescue personnel were still on site. Rescuers employed ropes to retrieve the four individuals from the rocks and were manually carrying them down the mountain, as stated by the bureau.