Family of 4 Rescued After 4 Nights Stranded on Beijing Mountain

A couple and their two young children were rescued on Thursday after spending four days and nights stranded on Tietuo Mountain in western Beijing, Beijing Daily reported.

Nearly 300 rescuers, police officers, firefighters and medical workers from Mentougou and Fangshan districts were sent to the site, with a police helicopter also used in the search.

The family from Hebei Province included a 9-year-old girl and a 6-year-old boy. The father, surnamed Wang, said he had seen an online post about a popular hiking route on Tietuo Mountain and decided to take his family there for a weekend climb.

They parked near an intersection on Tanwang Road in Mentougou at about 10am on May 31 and set off, intending to return the same day. Wang said mobile phone signals faltered less than half an hour after they entered the mountain, but they continued.

The family lost their way about two hours later and spent the first night sleeping on a large rock. After searching for a route out through the next day, they reached a valley on the evening of June 1 with little food or water left and only about 20 percent battery remaining on the phone.

On the morning of June 2, Wang climbed to a higher point and called the Blue Sky Rescue Team for help, saying the family was near a pool known locally as Hongkeng and a large boulder. His phone battery had fallen to 7 percent and soon ran out, cutting off contact.

After volunteers searched for a day without finding the family, the case was reported to police. The Mentougou fire rescue detachment received the alert at about 10pm that night and dispatched teams. Local police later used technical means to identify the base station near the last detected phone signal, narrowing down the search area.

Firefighter Qin Kunlin told the newspaper that a 60-member team from Fangshan entered Tietuo Mountain from the Fangshan side early on Thursday. Rescuers crossed cliffs and ravines while calling out for the missing family. They heard a response after passing the first cliff and found the four stranded near a second cliff.

The four were not in life-threatening condition, though badly exhausted, with scratches on their arms and legs, Qin said. The boy's legs were shaking when he stood up, according to the report. The family was brought down safely at about noon and taken for medical checks.

Tietuo Mountain has gullies and old mining pits and has seen repeated incidents involving hikers who became trapped, the report said.