Over 500 deaths reported due to drowning in Taiwan last year

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/09/09
By: Saloni Meghnani, Taiwan News

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — In 2019, Taiwan recorded its highest number of drowning accidents ever, according to data released by the Fire Department of the Ministry of the Interior.

Based on ministry figures, there were 948 water-related accidents in 2019. These cases are categorized based on outcomes of either survival (361), death (558), or missing (29).

Drowning accidents occur in streams or rivers 41 percent of the time, while the ocean accounts for 21 percent. Keelung River, Dawulun, and the Longdong caves have all in the last year been the sites of drowning accidents.

Data suggests that drowning accidents, which peak in July, are more likely to occur during hotter months when people tend to go swimming, such as from May to September. The summer in Taiwan has been the hottest on record this year, according to the Central Weather Bureau.
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