Four staff members of the Kunming Natural Resources Comprehensive Survey Center of the China Geological Survey lost contact after entering the mountainous area of Ailao Mountain to carry out field operations.
On the afternoon of November 15, after receiving the report, the Zhenyuan County Party Committee and the county government of Pu'er City urgently set up a rescue command center that night and organized personnel to go into the mountains to carry out search and rescue in the early morning of the next day. The four staff members were missing after entering the mountain from Zhangbon Village in Zhidong Town, Zhenyuan County on November 13, and on the 19th, Red Star News learned from the headquarters set up in Zhangbon Village that there were more than 370 people from 8 rescue teams who had been involved in rescue work. That night, a team of 50 people from the Pu'er detachment of the Yunnan Forest Fire Brigade rushed to reinforcements.
▲In the early morning, the members of the Pu'er Forest Fire Detachment assembled and set off
It was a relay search and rescue, and some of the search and rescue team members lived at a supply station 3 hours walk from Zhangbon Village at night, and 50 villagers were responsible for delivering food to them, but when the meal was delivered, it was frozen into cake. Although the team members are young and powerful, one of their iron laws is that they should not walk away from each other to prevent secondary dangers; although the search and rescue equipment is advanced, the Ailao Mountain is steep, wet and cold, the mountains are densely forested, and some instruments are not very useful.
"Every minute that passes, there is one less hope, so we don't dare to stop for a moment." Chen Peng, deputy director of the Fire Fighting and Rescue Command Department of the Pu'er Forest Fire Fighting Detachment, told Red Star News that from the 20th, rescuers will carry out key search and rescue on cliffs, culverts, valley floors and other areas.
▲Rescue team members of the Pu'er Forest Fire Detachment study the deployment plan
It is reported that as of 12:00 on November 20, more than 560 people participated in the rescue, and more than 1,900 rescue personnel have been dispatched. In order to find the missing personnel as soon as possible, on the basis of the original rescue force, in addition to the enhancement of personnel today, the focus has been set up 3 heavy equipment crossing groups to cross the Ailao Mountain to search and advance in the direction of Xinping, and the other 10 search and rescue groups will carry out drag-net and carpet-style accurate search and rescue around the area where the missing people lived on the 13th, at the same time, on the basis of a supply station that has been built, a new supply station will be built today, using airdrops to replenish supplies, to minimize the round-trip time of search and rescue personnel, improve the effectiveness of search and rescue, and go all out to carry out rescue.
50 reinforcements, carpet search
At nightfall, the stars flashed, the rescue teams returned to Zhangpeng Village to rest, and the cadres stationed in the village arranged personnel to clean the houses at the Zhangpeng Village Committee, where the 50-member team of the Pu'er City Forest Fire Fighting Detachment, which came to reinforcement on the evening of the 19th, temporarily stayed.
Time passed quickly, everyone's movements were tense and fast, and the villagers who prepared meals for the next day's rescue were also working intensively. Everyone is seizing the time to eat and rest, "I hope the 4 of them can hold on, as long as they live, we are worth the pain and tiredness." A staff member of the command said.
▲ On the evening of the 19th, the command prepared dry food for the rescue team members on the 20th
Zhang Zhaohui, executive deputy county magistrate of Zhenyuan County and executive deputy commander of the Search and Rescue Command, introduced that these four personnel entered the mountain to carry out forest resources investigation, carrying tools such as compasses, sapper shovels, shovels, and rations for about 1 and a half days, such as dry food and mineral water. The four people are between the ages of 25 and 35, have field work experience and a certain ability to survive in the wild, and the last call time with the rear is 12:59 on the 13th.
The 29 firefighters of the Pu'er Forest Fire Detachment received an order from the headquarters at 5:30 p.m. on November 16, and arrived at the local joint headquarters at 10:30 p.m. that night to communicate, coordinate and receive the task with the local rescue team.
Chen Peng told Red Star News that at 7:30 a.m. on the 17th, the search and rescue team set off from the camp on time, and 29 firefighters were divided into 4 teams and searched at their respective target points. Chen Peng's search and rescue team set off again at 7:30 a.m. on the 20th. "We found machetes, food bags, improvised shelters, etc." Chen Peng said that the shelter may have been built during the work of the ground transfer team. On the 19th, the search and rescue command said that the machetes, raincoats, drinks and other items found near the work area of the 4-person Ailao Mountain Plan were identified by their colleagues as the items of the 4 people.
▲Zhangbin Village Headquarters, rescue personnel research and deployment
According to Chen Peng, the previous search was based on the coordinates of the working area of the missing personnel, with "points" with "lines". On the evening of the 19th, after studying the meeting, the joint command headquarters decided to adjust the search method, "On the one hand, designate the person in charge of the area to carry out carpet search; on the other hand, it will focus on the search and rescue and inspection of the cliffs, culverts, valley floors and other areas." ”
Rescuers "operate jointly, group as a whole". Chen Peng told Red Star News that the rescue team members acted in groups and could not be scattered. At present, the Pu'er Forest Fire Detachment, the Mountain Rescue Team, the staff of the Kunming Natural Resources Comprehensive Survey Center of the China Geological Survey, the local public security, the guide and other personnel have formed a joint operation search and rescue team, with about 10 people as a group to carry out search and rescue operations.
The drone flight was blocked, and the meal was frozen into a cake
Some more advanced equipment was used in the rescue, such as the use of drone shouters in the air, calling out the names of missing people, and drones equipped with infrared detection lights repeatedly flying and searching in the search area. However, there is a certain limit to the flight distance of the drone, and in places where the signal is weak, the drone may lose the signal and cannot return. In addition, the forest is dense and the trunk is thick, and the flight of the drone will be hindered.
▲ Rescue team in the Ailao Mountain
Referring to the obstacles to the rescue, Chen Peng said, "There is a lot of pressure, and the difficulties are one after another. Chen Peng told Red Star News that factors such as weather, terrain and communication will bring difficulties to search and rescue. The search and rescue area is dominated by the western slope of Ailao Mountain, with an average altitude of about 2500 meters, a high altitude, a large temperature difference between day and night, and a night temperature of only 7 or 8 degrees Celsius. The mountains are humid, and even when it doesn't rain, there are drops of water dripping from the trees. During the march, the team's clothes were almost all wet, difficult to withstand the cold, "dry and wet, wet and dry."
In addition, the forest in the mountainous area is dense, the sunlight is blocked by leaves, the fog is large, sometimes the visibility is only about 10 meters, the signal is sometimes absent, and it is easy to get lost. Because it is difficult to determine the specific area where the missing person is located, they can only conduct a large-scale dragnet search.
When the four missing people entered the mountain, the local rain was long and cleared three days ago. The weather forecast released by the Zhenyuan County Meteorological Observatory on November 19 shows that from 21:00 on the 19th to 0:00 on the 20th, the area around Xuetang Village, Muchang Village and Zhangpeng Village in Zhenyuan County was cloudy, and the temperature was 12-16 °C; it was cloudy at 0-3 o'clock on the 20th, and the temperature was 11-15 °C. The temperature is low, and the human body feels cold. Mountainous areas and low-lying areas have fog, and attention needs to be paid to the adverse effects of low visibility on traffic and other aspects.
▲ A dry food for rescue team members on the 20th
On the evening of the 19th, Chen Peng's search and rescue team and 6 firefighters spent the night in the Ailao Mountain. Chen Peng told Red Star News that he had also spent the night in the mountains two days ago. The night in the mountains is windy and the temperature is low. Rescuers cut down bamboo with machetes in shelters from the wind, simply set up shelters and raised bonfires. Due to the humid environment, it takes an hour to make a fire alone, and the ignition cannot be used for cooking.
"The meals sent by the villagers to the supplies have long since turned cold, become cakes, very hard, and several of our team members reflected that it is difficult to digest after eating." Chen Peng said that it is good that the open fire can keep warm and can also prevent wild animals. At night, Chen Peng and the team members heard the dogs and bears on the mountain calling, "It's quite scary," Chen Peng said, in order to prevent the beast from attacking, the team members took turns to stand guard and take turns to rest. But because of the cold and humid weather, no one can completely fall asleep.
The search and rescue is divided into 4 target points, and Chen Peng's search and rescue team is responsible for the search and rescue of the No. 3 target point, which is the farthest from the starting point. From the map, the straight-line distance between the starting point and the end point is only about 3 kilometers. However, due to the undulating terrain in the mountains, the team members need to trek far more than 3 kilometers. The procession departed at 7:30 a.m. and did not reach the target point until the shelter was erected at 7 p.m. that same day. The next morning at 8:00 a.m. the group continued to depart and did not reach the target point until 11:30. From departure to return, it takes about 36 hours. "The team members are exhausted now, and it is difficult to move when they sit down," Mr. Chen said.
Villagers send supplies, carrying at least 15 kilograms of weight
During the rescue work, more than 50 local villagers went into the mountains many times to help build supply points and send meals and other materials to the professional rescue team, contributing to the orderly development of the rescue work.
According to Chen Peng, the supply point is used to store food, wild survival equipment and other materials, and the team members rest at the supply point, which can avoid going up and down the mountain back and forth and reducing the time spent on the road, so the local people have also made great efforts in this rescue.
▲ Xie Changhong, a villager in Zhangbon Village, and more than 50 local villagers are responsible for carrying supplies for the rescue team
Xie Changhong, an ecological ranger in Zhangpeng Village, was one of the first villagers to go up the mountain to look for missing people. At about 10:00 p.m. on November 15, under the organization of local leaders, Xie Changhong and 12 other villagers and cadres, in groups of 4, formed three search and rescue teams to search and rescue the mountain. He said they called the police because they couldn't contact the four field operators.
According to Xie Changhong's recollection, on the 15th, he once saw the footprints of a bear on the mountain path. Xie Changhong's team arrived at the location where the missing team members might go at 1 a.m. on the 16th, but found that there was no one there. At that time, the rain was thick and foggy, it was difficult to identify the direction, everyone was worried about the safety of the missing personnel, and everyone was very anxious.
That night, Xie Changhong and several other villagers stayed where they were. On the morning of the 16th, Xie Changhong and the search and rescue team set out again and braved the rain to search for the missing people in the Ailao Mountain. The crowd searched the mountains all day without success. At about 6 p.m. on the 16th, some villagers found footprints left by missing people around a river channel, which provided an important clue for the subsequent search and rescue work.
After descending the mountain, Xie Changhong had unbearable knee pain due to illness and rested at home for a day. On the 17th and 18th, Xie Changhong went into the mountain along the temporarily opened trail to build a rescue supply point for the rescue team, and at the same time he also transported supplies for the supply point with more than 50 villagers.
Xie Changhong told the Red Star News reporter that before 9:00 a.m. on the 17th and 18th, he and 30 other villagers, under the organization of the command headquarters, prepared water, dry food, rice, vegetables and other materials and began to enter the mountain. The villagers involved in the delivery of supplies are mainly from Zhangbon Village and Muchang Village, all of whom are male villagers under the age of 50. The supplies on each villager's back are usually about 15 to 20 kilograms, and men with great strength carry 30 kilograms. The mountain road is difficult to walk, the slope is steep, and every time you walk a section of the road, you have to rest for a while.
It takes at least 3 hours for them to reach the replenishment site and one and a half to two hours to return. Xie Changhong said that in fact, he rarely enters the mountains in normal times, and he is not familiar with the internal terrain of the Ailao Mountains, and he has not heard of anyone disappearing in the Ailao Mountains before, nor has he participated in the rescue.
At present, the 4 people who have lost contact have not been found, which makes Xie Changhong feel a little overwhelmed. "We have very few outsiders here, they come to our place, but they disappear here, and I feel that we have an obligation to help find them." He said.
Red Star News reporter Liu Mumu intern reporter Wang Yucheng
Originated from Zhenyuan, Yunnan
Edited by Guo Yu
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