"Thank goodness you arrived in time, or we would never have made it out of these deep mountains." At 8:42 p.m. the night before last, 12 tourists who had been trapped in the deep mountains for over three hours wept with joy upon seeing the rescue team arriving in the late hours.
The day before, 12 local tourists from Mianzhu City went for an outing in the mountainous area of Jiulong Town. While enjoying the scenery, they were captivated by the beauty of the landscape and chose to walk along a gravel path, venturing into an undeveloped area where they got lost and ran into danger. After receiving the distress signal, the local government organized two rescue teams totaling more than 30 people to carry out an overnight rescue operation, successfully escorting the lost tourists down the mountain.
Taking the road less traveled
12 tourists lost in deep mountains
On the morning of the 10th, an outing group consisting of 8 women and 4 men went to the mountains near Jiulong Town for sightseeing. During the tour, the wildflowers all over the Liu Tianguan scenic area attracted them. Moreover, someone in the group claimed to know the mountain paths, and gradually the group ventured deeper into the undeveloped areas, going further and further away.
"It’s getting dark; let’s head back quickly." Around 5 p.m., at the suggestion of one tourist, the group, still not wanting the trip to end, prepared to return. But after walking some distance, they couldn’t remember the way back, and even those who had said they knew the route didn’t know what to do.
As it grew darker, the tourists trapped in the mountains were also physically exhausted. At 5:52 p.m., after several failed attempts to find the way, the trapped tourists called 110 for help.
Staying on the phone
A team of over 30 heads into the mountains for the search
At 5:59 p.m., Yin Lei, a police officer on duty at the Jiulong Police Station of Mianzhu City Public Security Bureau, and Chen Tao, a police academy intern, received the distress call and drove to the scene for the rescue.
Yin Lei reported the situation while contacting the scenic area management office. He then took two staff members familiar with the terrain from the scenic area and drove to the incident site for the rescue. Meanwhile, the Jiulong Town Police Station, with the help of the government and scenic area staff, organized two rescue teams totaling more than 30 people to conduct a comprehensive search of the tens of kilometers of mountain forests in the Jiulong Town Scenic Area.
During the rescue mission, Yin Lei repeatedly asked the trapped tourists via phone. The trapped tourists said that they had crossed several mountains from the Paomaling scenic spot and were now deep in the vast mountains, having no idea of their exact location.
"We tried to contact the trapped tourists by phone and also by shouting and turning on the sirens of our police car to try to get their attention," according to Yin Lei. Upon reaching Paomaling, the rescue team members turned on their flashlights and began searching on foot up the mountain.
The tourists mentioned over the phone that shortly after departing from Paomaling, they came to a metasequoia forest and encountered two forks in the road. They then took the right fork and ventured deeper into the mountains. Afterward, the rescue team members successfully located the metasequoia forest and continued to climb in the direction indicated by the tourists.
At an altitude of nearly 1,000 meters, the rescue team members climbed the mountain with great difficulty while shouting. After half an hour, the police officers found that they had reached a cliff at the mountaintop with no path ahead, so they had to bypass the cliff and search around its edges.
As it got darker, walking along the cliff edge posed the danger of accidentally falling into the deep valley. After about ten minutes, the rescue team members searched the cliff but failed to find the trapped tourists. The first search attempt failed, so the rescue team had to return to the parking spot at Paomaling to reassess the route before launching another search.
Trapped for 3 hours
12 tourists finally rescued
After returning to Paomaling, Officer Yin Lei called the tourists again. Through the conversation, he learned that the tourists had crossed a cliff and climbed to the mountains on the other side, and were now anxiously waiting in a mountain valley.
With this information, the rescue team speculated based on the terrain that the tourists should be in the direction of the Nan Zhulin river valley. As a result, four rescue members drove toward the higher-altitude Tian Guanting scenic spot. Upon arriving at Tian Guanting, the rescue members turned on their car lights and sounded their horns to send signals. When they called the trapped tourists, the tourists said, "We can faintly hear the sound of a car horn."
The approximate location of the trapped individuals was determined to be near Nan Zhulin (a local place name), which delighted the rescue personnel. The team members hiked up along the Nan Zhulin river valley to begin the search. Moving through the darkness, with slippery mountain paths, every step was extremely difficult. Shaking their flashlights and shouting loudly, after advancing for about 20 minutes, the rescuers’ shouts were finally met with a faint response. Following the sound of the response, the rescue team picked up their pace and climbed upward.
At around 8:40 p.m., the police officers found the 12 trapped tourists at Liao Tangzi in Heigou.
"Thank goodness you arrived in time. Seeing you made us feel safe." Faced with the rescue team arriving in the late hours, the 12 tourists who had been trapped in the deep mountains for over three hours wept with joy.
By this time, the 12 tourists were utterly exhausted, with two women showing mild symptoms of fainting. After taking a headcount, the rescue team members helped the tourists walk back along the original route. At the tourist reception center, medical personnel were already waiting. After an on-site check-up, all 12 tourists were confirmed to be in normal health, and the two women gradually recovered after receiving simple treatment.
At around 9:30 p.m. that night, the 12 missing tourists were safely delivered to the Jiulong Town Tourist Center.