Over 40 rescuers entered the mountains to search
At around 7 p.m. last night, the Yuhu Police Station received a report that a group of 10 hikers had gotten into danger near the canyon of the Dongsan Electric Reservoir in Wencheng County, with two of them confirmed dead.
After receiving the call, the Wencheng County Fire Brigade, the County Armed Police Squadron, the Yuhu Town Police Station, and other departments joined forces in the search and rescue effort. Together with mountain rescue teams and some residents of Zhuya Community, they formed a 40-person rescue team to search the mountains. Meanwhile, a mountain rescue team from Hangzhou also participated in the rescue and recovery of the deceased.
It is reported that these 10 Shanghai hikers arrived in Wencheng County on the morning of the Dragon Boat Festival. They split into two groups at Zhuya Community for sightseeing. The first group of four remained safe, while the second group of six hiked to explore the area near the reservoir.
At around 2 p.m., the six hikers in the second group suddenly encountered a downpour and were swept into the stream by a flash flood. A hiker surnamed Fan recalled that their team leader, who was also the initiator of this activity, was the first to be washed into a deep pool by the waterfall. At the time, he had tied a rope around himself, planning to cross the deep pool to scout the other side, but when he swam close to the waterfall, he was swept away by the rapid current. Another teammate saw the leader in danger and immediately jumped in to save him, but the two became entangled and were both washed away. Other teammates tried to pull them back but failed.
About seven or eight minutes later, Fan also jumped into the water to help. After two or three minutes, he finally managed to pull the two out. Everyone immediately performed emergency measures such as artificial respiration and CPR, but the two never regained consciousness. At the time, the six hikers only had one mobile phone with them, which became unusable after falling into the water. The four who managed to escape then withdrew first and returned to the “campsite” to call for help.
The 10 hikers consisted of nine men and one woman, all around 30 years old and from Shanghai. They met through QQ and organized this activity together, knowing little about each other’s backgrounds.
The rescue process was fraught with danger
Chen Rui, a firefighter from the Wencheng Fire Squadron who participated in the rescue, told reporters: "For many sections, we had to crawl our way through." He was among the first to go up the mountain for the search. They set out at 7 p.m. last night and didn’t come down until 7 a.m. this morning. "When we first got up there, the weather was still okay, but around 1 a.m., it suddenly started pouring. Because there were no proper paths in the mountains and it was difficult to walk, none of us wore raincoats. Before long, everyone was soaked—there was no telling whether it was rain or sweat. Especially at night, we were climbing in complete darkness."
The search team advanced step by step along the edge of the canyon. Along the way, rescuers climbed muddy and steep mountain paths, scaled slippery rocks, and waded through waist-deep floodwaters. The entire search process was fraught with danger at every turn: Hu Junlong, the instructor of the fire squadron, slipped and fell into a deep pool while scouting the path and was pulled back by eight teammates working together; Zhao Dongyou, a police officer from the Yuhu Police Station, accidentally fell down a slope, injuring his face and body in multiple places.
Reporters learned that the identities of the two deceased hikers have now been confirmed—one surnamed Si and the other surnamed Gong, hailing respectively from Heze in Shandong Province and Pudong in Shanghai. Police stated that they would try to retrieve the bodies as soon as possible.
Hiking adventures should not become reckless risks
According to a rescue volunteer from Hangzhou, the continuous heavy rain and the hikers’ lack of preparation were likely the main causes of the accident. It is understood that this group of hikers did not go through a travel agency but met on QQ and organized the activity themselves.
Police officers involved in the rescue told reporters that because no waterproof bags were prepared prior to the trip, the six hikers left all their communication devices with the four teammates who did not enter the mountain, taking only one mobile phone with them. This crucial phone also became unusable after being submerged, resulting in their inability to contact the outside world in a timely manner. "By the time the four who escaped flagged down a car on the road to call for help, nearly five hours had passed since the accident occurred."
Industry insiders noted that hiking adventures are becoming increasingly popular these days, but such activities currently lack a regulatory body, and tourism authorities find it legally challenging to oversee them. Experts suggest organizing outdoor sports clubs and establishing industry standards through associations to regulate the activities of clubs and hikers.
Reported by Yu Qin, correspondents Yu Genling and Zhou Qiaowei