The youngest is 25 years old! Four geologists lost contact in the mountains for more than a week, more details released

On November 13, four staff members of the Kunming Natural Resources Comprehensive Survey Center of the China Geological Survey entered the Ailao Mountain area in Yunnan Province to carry out field work and lost contact. On the 15th, the police received a report and the relevant departments of Zhenyuan County, Pu'er City, began to organize a search and rescue operation. As of 17:00 on the 20th, no missing persons had been found.

The 4 geological surveyors are at least 25 years old

Carry one and a half days' rations

According to previous media reports, according to the plan, four geological surveyors hiked into the interior of Ailao Mountain on the 13th, crossed the mountain range and arrived in Xinping County, Yuxi City to complete the scheduled task. They originally planned to go down the mountain in the afternoon of the 13th or the morning of the 14th, but did not go down the mountain within the planned time.

According to preliminary investigations, the four people went into the mountains to conduct a forest resource survey and carried tools such as a compass, an engineer shovel, a spade, and about one and a half days of rations. Wang Hongdong, director of the Zhenyuan Management Bureau of the Ailao Mountain National Nature Reserve in Yunnan, said that among the four missing persons, the oldest is 32 years old and the youngest is 25 years old, and they have all served in the military.

More than 3,000 rescue personnel have been dispatched

A carpet search is underway in the area

In the past few days, the search and rescue personnel mainly searched for evidence clues such as chocolate and drinks left by the missing persons. On the 20th, the Yunnan Provincial Fire Brigade and the Pu'er City Forest Fire Brigade each dispatched 50 more forces to participate in the search and rescue, and the search plan was also slightly adjusted.

At 7 a.m. that day, the search and rescue team was divided into 13 groups, including 3 heavy-duty crossing groups and 10 carpet-style search and rescue groups. The three heavy-duty crossing groups, totaling 24 people, carried 5 days of supplies and camping equipment and crossed the Ailao Mountains to search in the direction of Xinping. The other 10 search and rescue groups will conduct dragnet and carpet-style search and rescue around the areas where the missing persons lived.

According to information from the front-line command centers in Pu'er and Yuxi, as of the evening of November 20, more than 560 people from Pu'er have participated in the rescue, and more than 1,900 rescue personnel have been dispatched. Yuxi has invested more than 1,100 people in the rescue.

It is understood that the area where the people lost contact this time is located in the core area of ​​the Ailao Mountain National Nature Reserve, with high mountains, dense forests and ravines. The search and rescue personnel need to start from the foot of the mountain at an altitude of more than 1,700 meters and cross several high mountains at an altitude of more than 2,800 meters. The search and rescue work faces many difficulties.

**Liu Dongjun, Political Commissar of Pu'er Forest Fire Brigade: **It is very difficult for us to make calls through satellite phones. Another reason is that the temperature difference between day and night is quite large.

According to the weather forecast, Zhenyuan County will experience rainfall starting from November 21, which will bring further pressure to the rescue work.

Cause of loss of contact: Possibly due to misjudgment of location

Wang Hongdong introduced that after several days of searching, the search and rescue personnel have found some signs of activities of the missing persons. The preliminary judgment is that the reasons for the loss of contact of these four people are:

Due to the adverse weather, from the 14th to the 16th, the reserve experienced continuous rainfall, the temperature dropped, and there was thick fog, with very low visibility, which may have led to misjudgment of the location of the missing persons.

The location where the missing person was found is the most complex area in the Ailao Mountains. Even patrol personnel who rarely go to places on weekdays may get lost for a short time. It is difficult for the missing person to get out when they are lost, and the complex terrain may also cause the missing person to suffer varying degrees of injuries.

Wang Hongdong also said that the current season is the most abundant in the Ailao Mountain Nature Reserve, and there are also many streams with abundant water sources. As the four missing persons have long-term field work experience, they should have no problem securing food and water in the short term.

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The incident occurred in a national nature reserve where bears have been spotted before.

Ailao Mountain is a national nature reserve with a maximum altitude of more than 3,100 meters, covering three prefectures and six counties in Yunnan Province. With steep mountains and complex geographical environment, it is one of the areas with the richest biodiversity in my country, with the largest mid-mountain wet evergreen broad-leaved forest area in the country, and a forest coverage rate of 85.1%.

The rich biodiversity also means that there are some dangerous animals here, such as bears and snakes, which poses considerable risks to both the missing persons and the rescuers.

Source of this article: CCTV News WeChat Official Account (ID: cctvnewscenter) Comprehensive Zhenyuan Release, @China Fire, China News Network

Producer/Wang Yuan

Editor-in-Chief/Wang Shuo

CCTV reporter/Zhang Bin, Wang Xi, Chen Hongyan

Editor/Yang Huijun

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