Firefighters rescue 82-year-old man who went missing in deep mountains

An 82-year-old man was recently rescued after he went missing in high-altitude mountains in Southwest China's Yunnan province for over 30 hours, Xinhua News Agency reported on Tuesday.

On Saturday morning, the elderly man went alone into a dense forest at an altitude of 1,700 meters in Longchuan county of the province, but did not come back. His family and the villagers called the police the next day after they failed to find him. Upon receiving the call for help, the local fire brigade swiftly sent a rescue team to the site.

The area where the man disappeared has a volatile climate, with nighttime temperatures dropping sharply, increasing the risk of hypothermia for those who spend a night there without any protection.

In the race against time, the rescuers cleared the way by hacking thorns and bushes with machetes while they kept calling out through loudspeakers and blowing whistles.

After a two-hour search, when the elderly man was finally found, he was shivering in a thicket of thorny bamboo while wearing a short-sleeved shirt and had lost his shoes.

Though he was conscious, he was physically exhausted due to a long trek in the mountains. The rescuers took turns carrying him along the steep mountain trail for 30 minutes and escorted him down to safety.

He was later sent to the hospital, and his condition remains stable.