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Vietnamese police announced on Thursday the incredible rescue of a six-year-old boy who had been missing for four days, found alive and well in a forested area of northern Vietnam’s rugged mountains.
The child’s disappearance was reported on Saturday after he didn’t come back with his siblings from a family gathering at a relative’s home in Yen Bai province which prompted a widespread search effort.
As part of their extensive search efforts, police in Lam Giang commune took the extraordinary measure of draining a pond, fearing that the missing boy might have accidentally fallen into the water, an unnamed officer revealed to AFP.
Over the past four days, a coalition of over 200 people came together to search for the missing boy, demonstrating the power of community and concern for his well-being, as reported by state media.
The search finally yielded a positive result on Wednesday, when the missing boy was successfully located, according to the police official.
“We were told that the boy was tired. They gave him things to eat and checked his health. He is ok now,” the police official told AFP.
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State media reported that a man had heard crying and discovered the exhausted boy covered in mud, sitting in a cassava bush in the forest.
With tears of joy, Ly Thi Phai, the mother of the missing boy, told VietnamNet of her boundless relief and happiness upon being reunited with her child.
“I was so happy that my child had returned alive,” she said.
“I cried because he looked thinner and weaker than before he disappeared.”
State media reported that the boy explained he had stumbled into the forest and, with each passing moment, his disorientation intensified, rendering him unable to escape the dense woods.
To stay alive, the boy drew upon his natural surroundings, drinking from a stream and gathering familiar leaves and wild fruits; this marveled the village of his resourcefulness in the wilderness.
