National park officers rescue 5 German tourists lost in Koh Phang Ngan forest

Officers from the Than Sadet National Park on Koh Phang Ngan have rescued a group of 5 German tourists after they got lost yesterday while on a forest hike. The 4 women and 1 man had been doing the Khao Ra hike, which takes in the highest peak on the island, when heavy rainfall caused them to get lost. A search party was formed when the group phoned the national park office and asked for help.

According to a Bangkok Post report, police, administrative officials, and park rangers rallied to look for the tourists, starting at the trail to the Khao Ra viewpoint in Ban Madua Wan village. The search party worked for an hour, shouting for the tourists, until eventually they heard the tourists shout back. The group was found near the Than Sadet waterfall, with officials giving them mangoes to eat, according to the report.

The rescued tourists have been named as 26-yer-old Yannick Meinhardt, 24-year-old Louise Konig, 25-year-old Denience Sapani, Lena Scheub, and Katharina Funchs. Mr Meinhardt says they were returning from the Khao Ra viewpoint at around 1pm when heavy rain caused a runoff that blocked their view of the path and caused them to get lost.

SOURCE: Bangkok Post