Missing Hiker Found Alive After Being Missing For 7 Weeks In Himalayas
After a grueling 7 weeks, two Taiwanese hikers have been found after going missing in Nepal. However, one had died just 3 days before rescuers discovered them. According to one of the rescuers Madhav Basnet, they found the surviving hiker Liang Shueng-Yue conscious along with the remains of his partner, Liu Chen-Chun, on Wednesday in a ravine near the Narchet River in the Himalayas.
Liang and Liu were hiking around the Ganesh Himal route, west of Kathmandu. Despite a snowstorm, the couple refused to turn back and continued to hike toward Langtang in Rasuwa District on March 9. After falling off a cliff and into a ravine, the hikers took shelter in a cave. They did not have a guide with them, Basnet told CNN.
The 2 hikers arrived in Nepal to hike the mountains of Himalayas on February. After their families reported that they've lost contact with the couple, a search and rescue operation was launched early March. The search went on for weeks but was discontinued due to bad weather, but resumed towards the end of April.
Basnet said of searching for the missing hikers, "In our heads, we never thought they would be alive. So when we found the boy alive, we got scared for a second. He greeted us by saying 'Namaste.' He was very happy."
Liang, who is only 20 years old, hadn't eaten for days and had lost approximately 66 lbs. in over 47 days in the wilderness. For the first 8 days, the hikers survived on the packed food they had with them. After they run out, they ate salt and melted snow.
Basnet shared that Liang was "extremely tired" when he found him. The emaciated hiker had maggots between his toes and lice in his hair, according to a BBC report. After being brought to a Kathmandu hospital, he slept well and is "gaining energy very fast". Liang's father will fly in from Taiwan on Friday, just in time for the found hiker's 21st birthday.