38 Flemish youngsters survive Alpine ordeal 02/04/2008 00:00
The youngsters, dressed in shorts and T-shirts, got lost on a trek half-way between Italy and Slovenia on Monday and were rescued only on Tuesday.
2 April 2008
Thirty-eight Flemish youngsters have survived their ordeal in the Alps. The youngsters got lost on a trek half-way between Italy and Slovenia on Monday and only got rescued on Tuesday.
The Flemings are members of the Christian youth movement Chiro and hail from the Antwerp town of Kontich.
They had to spend the night out in the open at an altitude of 1600 metres. Most of the youngsters were only wearing shorts and a T-shirt.
The youngsters were rescued by Italian and Slovenian rescue services. They had wanted to climb Mount Mangart, but lost their way.
They were able to alert the emergency services using their mobile phones. The rescue services only managed to locate the youngsters this morning.
The youngsters are aged between 14 and 22. Their rescuers supplied them with blankets and hot drinks.
The youngsters were brought down to the valley by helicopter. They are all in good health.
[Copyright flandersenews.be 2008]
1 reaction to this article
Nick posted: 02-04-2008 | 9:38 AM
They got stuck shortly after passing a 1800m remote mountain pass from Italy into Slovenia. Heavy rugged terrain, several km away from any roads or settlements. They took a wrong turn, then kept on going for hours in the wrong direction, until they found themselves on top of a cliff with no way to go forward. Winter conditions, more than 1 metre of snow. Many of them in shorts and tennis shoes, girls in short skirts. Their "guide": 21 year old, Belgian, new to the area. Gave wrong location (at least 2 km error) to the Slovenian rescue service; several men spent several hours, including at night, looking for them in heavy snow. Italian rescue service eventually found them in Slovenia (thanks to Schengen!), by following their trail in the snow, from an Italian valley over the pass into Slovenia. They were so lucky that the night was not cold.
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