Vietnam police rescue Swiss tourist lost in national park
Wednesday, November 06, 2024, 17:01 GMT+7
Police officers have rescued a Swiss tourist who got lost for several hours in Hoang Lien National Park, home to Fansipan Mountain, the tallest peak in Indochina, spanning the provinces of Lao Cai and Lai Chau in northern Vietnam.
The rescued foreigner, Bryan Handelman, 30, with Swiss nationality, was found in a forest within the park at around 1:00 am on Monday in a state of hypothermia and panic after being lost since Sunday evening, Lao Cai police said on Tuesday.
Rescuers immediately administered first aid before taking him to the nearest police station at 4:00 am for further care.
Handelman was reported missing by his compatriot girlfriend, Seriana Maria Lerch, at 7:45 pm on Sunday, to Lao Cai’s Sa Pa Town police.
She believed he got lost during his solo exploration of the park.
Sa Pa authorities immediately mobilized rescue forces in conjunction with police, forest rangers, and the national park staff to put together four search teams consisting of 25 members in total to look for the lost foreigner.
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| Bryan Handelman (L, 4th), a Swiss man, is seen at a police station in Sa Pa Town, Lao Cai Province, northern Vietnam after being rescued from a forest in Hoang Lien National Park in northern Vietnam, November 5, 2024. Photo: Thanh Tuan |
Working overnight, the search efforts lasted several hours and paid off with Handelman's recovery.
After being brought by police officers back to his hotel in Sa Pa, Handelman penned a thank-you letter to local forces expressing his gratitude for their great efforts in searching for and rescuing him.
“They did a great job and found me around midnight... I’m very thankful to all these people who helped me. They were very friendly and motivated police officers,” the letter reads.
A similar incident occurred on April 20, when Lai Chau police found an 18-year-old British tourist, Henwood Josheph Thomas, who had been lost in the same park for over eight hours and was also in a state of panic.
Located at an altitude of 1,000-3,000 meters above sea level, Hoang Lien National Park is home to 3,143-meter Mount Fansipan and over 3,000 species of plants and animals, of which hundreds of species are listed in the Red Books of Vietnam and the world, according to Nhan Dan (People) newspaper.
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