Wife’s delight as lost explorer to be saved in airlift from jungle
BRITISH explorer Benedict Allen was found safe and well yesterday after he was spotted near a jungle airstrip in Papua New Guinea.
Father-of-three Mr Allen’s wife Lenka was said to be “overjoyed” as a rescue mission was under way to airlift him to safety.
The adventurer’s family feared he may have come to harm after he set off to find a lost tribe of headhunters known to be armed with bows and arrows.
It is believed Mr Allen, 57, had been trying to make his escape after being caught up in fighting between different tribes in the region.
Mr Allen’s Czech-born wife and their children Natalya, 10, Freddie, seven, and Beatrice, two, were alerted that he had been found in an early morning text message from relatives.
His brother-in-law Paul Pestille, 63, said yesterday: “We are all just thrilled and excited he’s been found.”
Mr Allen’s friend, BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner, who travelled to Papua New Guinea with him twice last year to make a documentary, said on Twitter: “Benedict is not out of danger yet. He’s marooned at an airstrip after tribal fighting cut off all the road bridges.
“He’s stuck in a remote area of tribal infighting, awaiting evacuation by air.”
Mr Gardner dismissed speculation that Mr Allen’s aborted expedition had been a “media stunt”. He said Mr Allen, who has made six TV series for the BBC, was not aware a search had been mounted for him.
Mr Gardner said the alarm was raised by worried relatives after he failed to catch a flight to Hong Kong at the weekend.
Mr Allen set off alone three weeks ago to find the reclusive Yaifo tribe. The explorer, who travels without a phone or radio, was the first person from the outside world to contact the Yaifo 30 years ago.
He was found close to a remote airstrip 20 miles northwest of the Porgera gold mine.
Mr Gardner added: “I’m quite annoyed with him. He had no evacuation plan and didn’t give anybody any idea of where he was going.
“I’m sure he’s come back with an incredible story to tell and he’ll regale audiences at the National Geographic Society but we could have done without this worry.”
Speaking from the family home in Prague before her husband was found, Mrs Allen, 35, said the children were worried about him. She said: “They keep asking, ‘When’s Daddy coming home?’”