In the early hours of January 13, 54 tourists got lost and were stranded on a mountain in Tongguling Tourist Area, Longlou Town, Wenchang City, Hainan. Subsequently, police officers from Wenchang Public Security, firefighters, and border defense personnel joined forces in a search and rescue operation. After several hours of effort, they successfully rescued all the stranded tourists.
At 3:43 a.m. that day, the Wenchang City Fire Brigade command center received an order from the city’s Public Security Bureau command center: 54 tourists were stranded on a mountain in Tongguling Tourist Area, Longlou Town, Wenchang City. Among them was a 74-year-old, and the situation was extremely dangerous. The fire brigade was urgently requested to assist. Upon receiving the call, the Wencheng Squadron immediately dispatched one emergency rescue vehicle, one water tank foam fire truck, two mist fire trucks, and 18 officers to the scene.
To rescue the stranded tourists as quickly as possible, the fire brigade coordinated with Wenchang Public Security officers, police from the Longlou Town Border Police Station, Longlou Town government, and other departments to form a rescue team of about 50 people to search the mountain. At 4:30 a.m., the rescue team arrived at the scene. As they were unfamiliar with the mountain paths of Tongguling, police asked a local forest ranger to guide them up the mountain to search for the tourists. The firefighters brought safety ropes, harnesses, carabiners, and other rescue equipment and searched the mountain together with the ranger. “We walked while shouting loudly. Once the trapped people heard us, they would call out in response,” a police officer told reporters. Due to the darkness, and the complex terrain featuring mountains, sea, and rocks, the team had to use flashlights to light the way while calling out.
At 8:40 a.m. that day, the rescue team found the 54 tourists stranded on a reef in Tongguling Tourist Area. Firefighters and police then safely led all the tourists down the mountain. Two elderly individuals around 70 years old had difficulty walking due to weak legs and could not keep up with the group, so firefighters assisted them in descending slowly. By 9:15 a.m., all 54 tourists had been safely brought down the mountain. The rescue team took the 54 tourists to Baoling Port Protection Station in Tongguling to rest and provided them with mineral water and breakfast. After examination by medical personnel, most of the 54 tourists were suffering from exhaustion, with no other injuries. Around 10 a.m., the local government arranged for two minibuses to take the 54 tourists safely back to Haikou.
According to reports, 54 people participated in this trip, with the oldest being over 70 years old. The tourists came from all over the country, with most residing in Haikou, Hainan. This trip was organized by a travel enthusiast (Wang Jie, from Inner Mongolia, currently residing in Haikou, Hainan), who posted online. Other travel enthusiasts signed up through the internet, set a meeting time and location, and rented a vehicle to go to the tourist area. The trip started at 8 a.m. on January 12, with everyone gathering at the Provincial Library on Guoxing Avenue in Haikou City. They arrived at Tongguling in Wenchang at 10:30 a.m. to hike. By 4 p.m., they realized they were lost but did not report it to the authorities immediately. They wandered around the Baoling Port area near Shanhai Village Committee. It was not until around 2 a.m. on January 13, when the water and food they had brought ran out, that they had no choice but to call the police for help.