Lost Hong Kong paraglider, 67, rescued after making emergency landing in heavy fog and spending night in woods
- Man, surnamed Chung, attempts to fly from Ma On Shan to Sai Kung but heavy fog forced him to land
- ‘I only realised I was in big trouble after I reached the ground,’ he says
Hong Kong firefighters have rescued a 67-year-old paraglider who was forced to make an emergency landing in heavy fog and spent the night lost in woods.
The man, surnamed Chung, had planned to fly from the Ngong Ping Campsite in Ma On Shan to Sai Kung on Friday afternoon but was left stranded after landing without any mobile phone service.
“I shouldn’t have flown my paraglider,” he told a local television station on Saturday. “I realised there was very heavy fog after I took off and I could not see anything at all. But I could not return to where I took off.
“It was very foggy. I could not see anything in the sky, but I saw a grass opening down below, so I made an emergency landing. I only realised that I was in big trouble after I reached the ground.”
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Police said they received a report about a 67-year-old man who had gone paragliding at 5.30pm on Friday and then encountered fog and made an emergency landing in the woods.
They said he stayed outside overnight without any food and water before being rescued by firefighters on Saturday morning unharmed. They did not reveal where he landed.
The force later said that Chung was eventually able to contact authorities for help himself, but did not provide more details.
Recounting his ordeal, Chung said he wanted to call for help after landing, but discovered he had no internet or mobile service.
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He added that a new mobile app developed by police to help find lost hikers did not work as well, as he triggered it up to seven times to no avail before giving up.
“It was a close-call,” he said. “I want to warn everyone, if you fall into the woods, it is very, very hard to find you. I was thinking that I would not make it out of there.”
The force later noted that Chung did not have a clear understanding of the application, adding that the system would not be able to report his location instantly without phone service.
