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On the morning of October 16, 2021, a couple of bikers were caught in a landslide.

46-year-old rider surnamed Liu and 44-year-old rider surnamed Huang from Kaohsiung were riding in Hualien County’s Taroko National Park in Taiwan. The two of them were enjoying the sunny day riding on the Cross-Island Highway. But, at 10:45AM, when they were crossing the Cimu Bridge (specifically Taiwan Line 8’s 172.8km marker), the mountainside had started to collapse! The two bikers had been hit by the falling rocks, which also knocked their bikes over. Two cameras, each mounted on a bike, captured this dramatic moment.

Liu, the one closer to the mountain, was hit by a large rock which knocked his bike down and shattered his right femur, reported by Liberty Times. The Hualien County Police Department’s Xincheng Branch pointed out that the largest rock, which is what hit Liu, was about 1 meter in diameter. Liu was later transported to Tzu Chi Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Huang, at the back end, was also caught in this moment, but did not sustain any serious injuries. Still, he was transported to Tzu Chi Hospital as well to receive medical attention.

After the men were taken to the hospital, the Fourth Maintenance Engineering Office of the State Highway Administration sent personnel to clean the road. Police carried out traffic control at the scene, and traffic resumed at 12:30 noon.

The Hualien County Police Department’s Xincheng Branch investigated the incident. Aerial Drones were flown to determine what topographical and geological changes had occurred to cause this incident. It’s believed that pieces of the Cross-Horizon highway started to collapse due to continuous heavy rains. Recently, there was a circulation of typhoons (storms) passing over several days. Chen Lihua, head of the Taroko Public Works Section, said that although it is sunny today, many slopes have high water content and the slopes in mountainous areas are still extremely unstable (Yazhu). He urges passers-by not to go uphill unless necessary, and to pay attention to road conditions, especially after rainfall. (Everington)

the last two videos are the full videos with full audio. The first two are the same, but I matched the video with the audio.

-Xincheng Police Branch

-Central News Agency Reporters “Zhang Qi”, Hualien County, and “Xie Yazhu”, October 16th, 2021

-Taiwan News reporter “Keoni Everington”

-Liberty Times

-Hualien County Police Bureau (photos)

-Xincheng Police Branch

-Fourth Maintenance Engineering Office of the State Highway Administration

-Weng Zhengshan

-rollthebones (Kaotic)