An Australian student who went missing while out walking last month has been found alive, after surviving for almost two weeks on berries and two muesli bars he found.
Hadi Nazari, 23, went missing on December 26 when he became separated from his two friends in the bush of Kosciuszko National Park in the state of New South Wales, southeastern Australia.
He was found on Wednesday by a group of hikers, about ten kilometers from a command post that had been set up as part of an extensive search operation involving hundreds of people.
“This is an incredible result, after 13 long days he has been located,” New South Wales Police Inspector Josh Broadfoot said in a statement.
Hazari drank water from a stream and survived on food he foraged in the mountains, Broadfoot told reporters separately. This included some berries and “a couple of muesli bars in a hut.”
Hazari was “in such good spirits” and “in such good condition,” he said, adding that he was being evaluated by paramedics at the search base camp, where cheers were heard and his family was seen hugging him.
Hazari and his two friends, aged 23 and 24, had planned to meet at a campsite after separating, police said in their statement. When he did not arrive, his friends began to look for him.
The search became a multi-agency effort with more than 300 rescuers and volunteers tracking Hazari’s movements in the mountains.
Hope for his survival grew when trash and hiking poles thought to belong to Hazari were found next to a river on New Year’s Eve, followed by a campfire, a lighter, a camera and a camera bag on 5 January.
Then on Wednesday, a group of hikers passing near the search area heard Hazari calling for help.
“My partner James looked towards the screams and we responded. We heard him say, ‘I need help,'” Joshua Dart, 30, told Australian broadcaster ABC.
Dart said he had seen the missing person alerting about Hazari but that his group was not actively searching for him.
When he was found after almost two weeks, Hazari seemed to have lost track of time, believing that only seven days had passed.
“He really had good survival instincts,” Dart added.
