Stranded trekker’s rescue bittersweet
NEPAL: A Taiwanese man who was missing on a mountain in Nepal for 47 days was rescued yesterday, but his girlfriend died just three days before they were discovered, trekking officials said.
Asian Trekking agency official Madhav Basnet said Liang Sheng Yueh, 21, was found on a ledge under a waterfall and was flown by helicopter to a hospital in the capital, Kathmandu. The body of his girlfriend, Liu Chen Chun, 19, was also taken to the capital.
The couple were on a long trek on the Ganesh Himal trail, which is not as crowded as other popular routes, when they were caught in a snowstorm in March and lost their way.
According to Basnet, they appeared to have followed a river, hoping to find a village, but slipped and fell over the waterfall. They landed on the ledge and were unable to climb up or down. The area is at an altitude of 2600 metres.
The couple had no guides or porters and were carrying their own food, tent and sleeping bags. For the first two weeks, they survived on food they had in their backpacks, but after that they consumed only salt and water, Basnet said.
Rescuers initially scoured the area for two weeks before suspending their search, but resumed the search on April 20. Basnet said they spotted a red tent and managed to climb down to the ledge.
‘‘We found the man alive and able to speak to us, but the woman was already dead. We could not carry them, so we called a helicopter,’' Basnet said.
Yueh appeared to be in good health, said Ajay Singh Thapa, a doctor at the Grande Hospital in Kathmandu.
‘‘He appears exhausted and lost some 30 kilograms of bodyweight. He was suffering from severe malnutrition. His foot was covered with maggots and hair full of lice. Despite having to live like that for 47 days, he appears to be mostly normal.’’
He said Yueh was probably able to survive because he was able to get both salt and water into his body. - AP