Zhejiang Online, April 25 —Yesterday at noon, Mr. Ying, a resident of Yongkang, called the hotline of Zhezhong City News: Over twenty villagers from our village went hiking together on Longxi Mountain, and one of them broke his leg.
Reporter’s verification: Longxi Mountain is located in Shizhu Town, Yongkang, with an elevation of 516 meters. Due to its beautiful scenery, it often attracts hiking enthusiasts.
Yesterday afternoon, at the accident site in Fengluo Village, many villagers had gathered at the foot of the mountain, and firefighters had also arrived. Some enthusiastic villagers were already preparing to go into the mountains with tools such as sickles to rescue the injured hiker.
“There were 25 of us hiking in total. Eighteen have come down, and seven are still on the mountain. One of them has broken his leg,” said Lao Ying, who is from nearby Yingge Village. The group usually has a lot of free time and organizes hikes once or twice a week.
Yesterday morning, they decided to try a new hiking route. “We’ve only taken this path once before. It’s relatively thrilling and adventurous.”
Around 9 a.m., light rain began to fall, making the mountain paths slippery and difficult to walk on.
“I felt it was unsafe and planned to turn back, but a few others weren’t ready to quit and wanted to keep climbing,” said Lao Ying. Seven people chose to continue the hike, and when he got back to the foot of the mountain, he received a call saying someone had been injured.
The injured person was Ms. Xu, Lao Ying’s cousin. “She’s considered an experienced hiker. We never expected something like this to happen.”
Initially, the people on the mountain managed to explain their location. Lao Ying had them light a pile of semi-dry wild grass, and rescuers followed the smoke to locate the stranded seven hikers. Ms. Xu was quickly taken to a nearby hospital. She suffered a fracture in the bones around her right ankle, but is in stable condition after surgery.
“The accident happened on my way down. I had already passed the most dangerous part. Halfway down the mountain, I accidentally tripped on a vine, lost my footing, and rolled down over two meters before a tree stopped my fall,” Ms. Xu said.
Due to the difficult terrain, firefighters had to carry Ms. Xu down the mountain in shifts.
Reporters learned that there are five peaks around Longxi Mountain, with cliffs and steep drops everywhere. As the area has not been developed for tourism, there are no steps built on the mountain paths, making the hike quite challenging.
“Last year, a female tourist also got injured after falling when her rope wasn’t properly secured,” said a resident of Fengluo Village. With the recent continuous rainy weather, moss has covered the rocks, and there are lots of fallen leaves on the ground, making it very easy to slip.