After more than 37 hours of losing contact while climbing Tam Dao mountain, the 19-year-old male student was found, given first aid and taken out of the dangerous area by functional forces in a conscious but exhausted state.
On the morning of April 21, search forces discovered Nguyen Tuan Anh, a student of Dai Nam University, in the Tam Dao mountainous forest area.
The male student was found sitting by the stream bank at an altitude of about 600m. After being approached and given initial first aid, the victim was taken out of the dangerous area, and his health is now stable.
Previously, at about 6 pm on April 19, the family lost contact with Tuan Anh when he and a group of friends climbed a mountain in the Vinh Ninh village area, Dao Tru commune.
On the same night, more than 100 people including police, military, medical and local people were mobilized, divided into 8 search teams. Flycams with thermal cameras were also used to expand the scanning range in the complex mountainous terrain.
From this incident, Mr. Nguyen Quang Tien - a person with trekking experience - said that Tam Dao Bac is not suitable for people with little experience going to the forest or with the mentality of "going everywhere is the same".
According to Mr. Tien, this is a long, continuous slope road, with a total one-way road of 7.2 km for a total of 15.5 km, most of the road is through the forest, with little space to determine the direction.
Just being late, getting off the mountain when it's dark or separating from the group leader, the risk of getting lost is very high.
There are terrain points such as landslide areas, shallow streams, blurry turns, difficult to recognize during the day, let alone when it is dark or foggy.
It is worth mentioning that many young people today enter trekking with the mentality of trying their hand, taking photos, "check-in", but underestimate the harshness of the mountains and forests.
According to experienced people, many people carry water, lack food reserves, do not have flashlights, do not have a travel map pre-arranged, or even just rely on their phones.
Meanwhile, on roads like Tam Dao Bac, phones are not "lifebuoys". It gets dark very quickly, the signal is intermittent, the battery drains easily, and the phone's flashlight is not bright enough to observe the terrain in the deep forest.
When the body loses strength, dehydration, and panic appears, the ability to handle situations also decreases very quickly.
From the reality of leading the delegation, Mr. Tien believes that seemingly small items can determine survival when encountering problems, such as flashlights, power banks, horns, lighters, excess drinking water, fast food and positioning devices.
In case of straying, the horn sound is usually more effective than screaming because it goes further and is less energy-consuming.
Another important principle is not to voluntarily separate from the group, not to go "solo" if you do not have enough experience, not to be subjective with long forest routes and always stick to the guide.
Beginners in trekking need to carefully understand the terrain, travel time, dangerous points, and prepare a backup tracklog or GPX," Mr. Tien said.
The case of a 19-year-old male student being found safe after more than 37 hours of losing contact is great luck. But not every trip has the opportunity to correct mistakes.
With trekking, just a few careless decisions can be exchanged for many hours of survival in the deep forest, even life.
