A 73-year-old man and a 58-year-old woman trapped in the Huairou district mountains ignored rescue calls because of a belief that responding to strangers brings bad luck.
Key facts
- •The two individuals were a 73-year-old man and a 58-year-old woman.
- •The pair had been trapped in the mountains for nearly 30 hours.
- •Both individuals have hearing impairments.
- •The rescue operation lasted 17 hours.
- •The foragers ignored rescue calls because of a superstition regarding strangers.
Police and firefighters in Beijing's Huairou district rescued two neighbours who had been trapped in a wild mountain area for nearly 30 hours. The pair, a 73-year-old man and a 58-year-old woman, had gone missing while foraging for herbs. Rescuers located the individuals after a 17-hour search operation that began on the evening of July 29.
Rescue and discovery
The two individuals, who frequently foraged together, were found in an extremely exhausted state. They did not carry mobile phones due to a lack of signal in the region and were reported to be without food or water. Upon being located, the pair revealed to the rescue teams that they had heard the calls for help long before they were found. They had deliberately ignored the rescuers due to a superstition that responding to strangers brings bad luck.
Timeline
- July 29Police and firefighters received a call reporting the two neighbours missing.
- OvernightRescue teams searched through the night for the missing pair.
- After 17 hoursRescuers successfully located the two individuals.
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This article was independently rewritten by ManyPress editorial AI from reporting originally published by South China Morning Post.
