A 24-year-old resident of Horishni Plavni lost his bearings in the area, and on the fourth day of wandering, his health deteriorated sharply. Specialists from the mountain rescue unit in the village of Vydrychka located the hiker in the Tyshchora area in less than two hours.
Mountain rescuers from Zakarpattia, together with border guards, successfully completed another search-and-rescue operation in the highlands of the Rakhiv district. The specialists located and escorted a 24-year-old tourist from the Poltava region—who had been unable to find his way out of the dense forest on his own for several days—back to a populated area.
The rescue of the traveler was reported by the Main Directorate of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine in the Zakarpattia region.
Exhaustion after four days of wandering and a call to “101”
An emergency call was received by the Rescue Service on November 11 at 11:22 a.m. directly from the tourist himself—a 24-year-old resident of the city of Horishni Plavni in the Poltava region:
- Emergency situation: The man told rescuers that he had been wandering through the Carpathian Mountains for four consecutive days, had completely lost his bearings in the rugged terrain, and could not find his way to the nearest settlement;
- Health Risk: The situation was compounded by the fact that, due to severe physical exhaustion, the cold, and a prolonged stay in the forest, the traveler’s condition had deteriorated sharply.
Operational Search with a Service Dog
A joint search team, consisting of specialists from the mountain search and rescue unit in the village of Vydrychka (Rakhiv District), border guards, and a dog handler with a service dog, immediately set out to assist the hiker:
- thanks to their professional knowledge of the mountainous terrain and the coordinated efforts of the specialists, the search lasted less than two hours;
- by 1:15 p.m., the exhausted hiker had been located in the area of the Tyshchora tract.
Rescuers provided the man with first aid, gave him hot tea to drink, and then brought him down from the mountains and transported him to the village of Luhy in Rakhiv District, where they handed him over to an emergency medical team for examination and necessary treatment.
Rescuers’ Warning to Hikers
The State Emergency Service once again reminds mountain hikers: the Carpathians in the fall and early winter are extremely treacherous due to sudden fog, early twilight, and sub-zero temperatures at night:
- be sure to register your route with mountain search and rescue units before heading into the mountains;
- do not embark on long hikes alone without proper gear, food supplies, warm clothing, and navigation tools;
- realistically assess your physical fitness and the weather forecast.
Source: Main Directorate of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine in Zakarpattia Oblast.
