Two foreign tourists lost in mountain climbing incident in Lam Dong found (Photo: VNA)Lam Dong (VNA) - Two foreign women, a 35-year-old British and a 28-year-oldSouth African national, were found by search and rescue forces afterthey became lost in the forest while climbing the Langbiang mountainin the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong.
The twotourists, whose names were given as Bryony Smith and Anica Cronje, havesafely returned to central Da Nang city and sent their thanks to the search andrescue workers, Su Thanh Hoai, Chairman of the Lac Duong District People’sCommittee, said as he informed the press of the New Year incident onJanuary 4.
On the nightof January 1, authorities in Lac Duong district received a message from NguyenVan Giang, 32, who was a friend of the two foreign tourists in Da Nang. Heinformed the authorities that the women had encountered difficulties andwere missing.
Giang said heand his wife became acquainted with the two women in Da Nang and went on a tripto Da Lat.
The pairinvited them to climb the mountain but due to physical impairments, he and hiswife declined. In the afternoon, the South African woman called Giang to saythat they were lost in the forest and could not return to Da Lat fordinner and might have to spend the night in the wilderness. They also saidtheir phone battery was running low.
Giang askedthe woman to send her location via phone and managed to contact Lac Duong’s rescueforces.
The districtimmediately deployed local forces including police officers, rangers, militarypersonnel and firefighters to search for the tourists.
The rescueforces managed to find the two tourists the same night in a state ofexhaustion as the temperatures had dropped significantly, while their phoneswere out of power. The pair wasthen brought back to Lac Duong township.
Dang Ngoc Hiep,head of the search and rescue authorities of Lac Duong township, said thelesson was that all outdoor adventure trips should be organised and thelocal authorities should be notified of the plan./.
VNA
