On June 15, over 20 outdoor hiking enthusiasts ventured into the BaoYuGou area of the Yin Mountains, located north of Shibaoqi Village, Bingzhouhai Township, Bizhiqi Town, Togtoh Banner, Hohhot, for an outdoor exploration. Unfortunately, hiker Wang went missing while exploring alone. Yesterday, after nearly a day of tense search and rescue efforts by police, PLA troops, and several seasoned expert hikers, the deceased Wang was finally found at the foot of a waterfall inside the valley.
Reporters learned that those involved in the rescue included personnel from a unit of the People’s Liberation Army Air Force, officers from the Togtoh Banner Fire Brigade of the Hohhot Fire Department, police officers from the Togtoh Banner Public Security Bureau of Hohhot, members of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Civilian Outdoor Rescue Association, and several seasoned hikers.
Reporters saw officers helping each other carry a stretcher with the deceased on it. Though drenched in sweat and struggling to walk, they managed to keep the stretcher steady throughout.
At several treacherous sections, the officers carrying the stretcher had no safe path to proceed, so they had to secure the body and stretcher with ropes and lower them down from large boulders before team members waiting below continued the relay to carry them out of the mountain.
Civilian groups actively joined the search
During the interview, reporters learned that at 6:00 p.m. on June 15, Alateng, secretary-general of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Civilian Outdoor Rescue Association, noticed a message in his outdoor travel group: a group of over 20 people on an outdoor trip in BaoYuGou of the Yin Mountains, north of Shibaoqi Village, Bizhiqi Town, Togtoh Banner, Hohhot, had lost contact with one of their teammates. Upon receiving this information, several seasoned outdoor enthusiasts spontaneously organized and drove to BaoYuGou together with Alateng.
Around 9:00 p.m. that day, the news quickly spread among hikers in Hohhot. Subsequently, a rescue team composed of over a dozen professional, seasoned hikers also arrived at the scene to assist.
"Bian’an" told reporters that there are three waterfalls in the BaoYuGou mountains, located about 10 kilometers from the mountain pass, which were first explored by professional outdoor enthusiasts at the end of 2012. The terrain in this area has significant elevation changes, making it very difficult to enter without a professional guide. Therefore, once Alateng and his teammates arrived, they immediately contacted "Bian’an" to understand the basic situation.
At that time, due to the late hour and poor visibility in the mountains, the initial search yielded no results, so they opted to camp at the foot of the mountain and create maps, narrow down the search area, and devise a rescue plan.
At 4:00 a.m. on June 16, just as dawn broke, the rescue team split into two groups to begin the search.
Around 7:00 a.m. that day, the first search team found a man lying motionless in the bushes at the foot of the second waterfall, between the first and second waterfalls, suspected to be the missing hiker. Because they were too far away, the rescuers couldn’t confirm the hiker’s vital signs, so they immediately used GPS to notify the search team at the foot of the mountain.
At the foot of BaoYuGou, reporters also met Liang Shiming, a member of the Inner Mongolia Amateur Radio Club. Liang, also an outdoor enthusiast, drove to BaoYuGou early on June 16 upon hearing the news. Equipped with full professional mountaineering gear, Liang, upon arrival and learning that there was no signal in the deep mountains—which posed challenges for the rescue team—immediately arranged for two team members to go up the mountain, set up a temporary radio station at the summit, and provided the rescue team with seven walkie-talkies. His efforts played a crucial role in notifying the troops at the foot of the mountain to assist once the missing hiker was found.
At the scene, reporters observed many professional mountaineering hikers who came to help. They all drove to the site themselves and spontaneously provided food, water, and professional guidance to the rescue team. There were over 30 civilian volunteers participating in the rescue.
Hiker goes missing while alone
Reporters learned that on the morning of June 15, forest rangers in the area spotted over 20 people carrying hiking gear preparing to enter the mountains. After persuasion by the rangers, the group left.
However, these over 20 hikers entered the mountains through other routes.
At noon that day, the hikers arrived at the area beneath the first waterfall in BaoYuGou, which is about 20 meters high. Due to the dangerous terrain, the hikers decided to have lunch there and not continue climbing. Wang (male, 43, from Tumote Youqi, Baotou City, working in Hohhot, single, on his second outdoor activity) and two female teammates felt they hadn’t had enough adventure and decided to climb above the waterfall. After ascending the first waterfall, the two women, seeing that the second waterfall was about 40 meters high with steep cliffs, chose to give up and not go further, but Wang continued climbing alone.
Around 1:00 p.m. that day, the teammates lost contact with Wang and couldn’t find him after searching. At 3:55 p.m., they called the police.
After receiving the report, the 110 Command Center of the Hohhot Public Security Bureau immediately dispatched police from the Bizhihai Police Station of Togtoh Banner to the scene. After searching, the police couldn’t find Wang. Lacking professional mountaineering equipment, the police had to leave temporarily and began contacting professional rescue teams for the search.
Five-hour effort to retrieve the body
At around 7:50 a.m. on June 16, the First Squadron of the Togtoh Banner Fire Brigade of the Hohhot Fire Department received an alarm. They immediately dispatched a rescue vehicle, and nine firefighters arrived at BaoYuGou by around 8:10 a.m.
At the same time, over 20 officers from a unit of the People’s Liberation Army Air Force also arrived at the rescue site.
After understanding the basic situation, the officers, led by professional hikers, hiked into the mountains.
At 9:30 a.m. that day, the officers reached the foot of the first waterfall. "The deceased was between the first and second waterfalls. Since the mountain was covered with huge rocks and there was almost no path, we had to send one person up first to secure anchor points and then lower a safety rope before climbing up one by one," Liu Haochen, captain of the First Squadron of the Togtoh Banner Fire Brigade, told reporters. After reaching the area with their gear, the firefighters saw the deceased in the bushes at the foot of the second waterfall. The mountain was littered with rocks and covered in thorny vegetation, leaving almost no place to step. After assessing the situation, they found a relatively navigable route. The firefighters first cleared a path using nearby sticks and secured the deceased onto a stretcher. However, because the waterfall was so high, they had to tie knots in the safety rope and slowly lower the body down. There were three or four such steep sections along the way.
It wasn’t until 1:30 p.m. that the officers managed to carry the deceased out of the mountains.
The entire rescue operation lasted over five hours. Reporters noticed that one firefighter named Zhang Sheng had blisters on his feet, but he still persisted in carrying the deceased out of the valley.
Hikers should exercise caution
As a professional civilian outdoor rescue association in Inner Mongolia, Alateng told reporters that in recent years, outdoor activities have become highly popular among citizens, leading to a boom in outdoor organizations. Genuine outdoor organizations must have professional qualifications, and leaders are required to hold professional guiding certifications—even members of outdoor rescue teams are required to have professional rescue certifications. Only those with relevant qualifications can maintain a high level of safety awareness, foresight, and emergency response capabilities. However, many current organizations are not standardized—they’re simply formed by groups of enthusiasts. In case of emergencies, teammates are unprepared and lack the professional skills needed for rescue operations, often leading to tragedy. Professional outdoor experts remind all outdoor enthusiasts to always choose professional organizations, maintain safety and teamwork awareness, follow arrangements, avoid acting alone, and thereby effectively prevent accidents.