The couple had gone missing 40 days ago
KATHMANDU, April 27: Of the Taiwanese couple which had gone missing 40 days ago during trekking in Dhading's Ruby Valley - the base camp area of Ganesh Himal - the man has been found alive on Wednesday while his girlfriend's dead body has been recovered.
A rescue team found Liang Sheng-Yuen alive but his partner Liu Chen-Chun could not make it. Yuen and his partner's body have been airlifted to Kathmandu after the rescue. The survivor Yuen is currently undergoing treatment at Grande Hospital in the capital while the deceased's body has been kept at Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital in the capital for post-mortem.
Grande Hospital said that Yuen is in critical condition. He has weakened greatly. According to the hospital administration, he can barely speak. After surviving in the wild for over a month, he weighs just 30 kg.
The couple is believed to have slipped off the snow-clad trails between Pandas Pass and Somdong village over a month ago, said Pradeep Karki, in-charge of the TIMS department of the Trekking Agencies" Association of Nepal (TAAN).
“When they went missing, the weather condition was so bad that a rescue team could not be sent even after four days. But they couldn't be located after the weather got better and their search and rescue operations began,” said Karki.
The survivor informed that his partner Chun died just three days ago.
“They slipped off the trail down to 200 meters. Initially, they survived on noodles they had packed, which lasted for about five days. After that, they said they survived on nearby fresh water and salt which they had carried,” informed Karki.
The itinerary sent by the relatives of the victims show that the couple had planned to start their trip from Trisuli on February 22 and reach Shyapru Besi on March 22 and then forward to Kyanjin Gumba to stay there in camps for four days. They had planned to return to Kathmandu on March 30.
“On 28 February, the couple was in Sertung and they stayed for three days in Tipling, as per the locals. In my opinion, they moved from Tipling to Somdang via Pangsang Pass on March 3 before meeting the unfortunate incident,” said Karki, adding, “On Wednesday, they were found near Narchet Khola, which lies between Pangsang Pass and Somdang. From this, I can say that they had fallen off the trail near Narchet Khola on March 3,” said Karki.
The Kathmandu-based Asian Trekking Pvt Ltd rescued them after being informed by the locals. Sources at TAAN said that the family members of the victims are preparing to arrive in Nepal on Saturday. The family of the deceased has requested the authorities not to perform her post-mortem until they arrive in Nepal.