Life of Guangzhou - 100 Shenzhen Hikers Rescued after 18 hrs

About 100 Shenzhen hikers were rescued Monday after being stranded in a mountain on the border of Huizhou and Shenzhen for nearly 18 hours amid heavy rain.

The 104 hikers were found at 2:10 a.m. after almost four hours of searching by more than 230 rescuers sent by the government of Pingshan Subdistrict, Longgang. They all safely returned home.

The government sent rescuers at midnight after receiving phone calls for help from the hikers.

“We had planned to be off the mountain at 5 p.m., but somehow we climbed one mountain after another and were still on top at 9 p.m.,” said Yu, one of the hikers. “Then we called for help out of desperation. We were stranded because of the heavy rain, which made it difficult to tell directions.”

A rescuer named Ah Hu said that none of the hikers could give them any idea of their location.

For that reason, rescuers had to be sent to all three mountains in the area — Mt. Jingui, Mt. Tianxin and Mt. Tiantou.

“It was totally dark,” said Ah Hu, who searched Mt. Jingui, where the hikers were found. “We hadn’t made any progress. When we were losing hope, we received a phone call from a hiker, saying that they heard dogs barking.”

At 12:25 a.m. rescuers found 60 hikers. Others were found and guided down the mountain by 2:10 a.m.

The hikers were organized by an online hiking club called After the Wind, led by Tang, who works for a Shenzhen transportation company. They set out from Shenzhen Stadium on two buses at about 8 a.m. and began to hike from Shitouhe Reservoir in Daya Bay, the hikers said.

Yu, an experienced hiker, said the group separated during the night. She had brought only two bottles of water, which ran out. “We became exhausted and frightened,” she recalled.

[More Guangdong and Pan PRD News]