Text messages sent to family members in Greece have helped save the life of a tourist who was stranded on a mountain in New Zealand over the weekend. Greek tourist Marios Symeonidis became lost when he went for a short walk to take photos of a waterfall on Mt Ruapehu on New Zealand’s north island, at about 6pm (7am GMT) on Saturday. When Mr Symeonidis did not return from his walk, his travelling companion alerted local police who immediately began a search and rescue operation in the mountainous area, which is home to some of New Zealand’s most popular skiing and snowboarding terrain.
Mr Symeonidis was only dressed in light clothing and was not equipped for an overnight stay in the mountains. However luckily he had phone reception, so the 30-year-old sent text messages to his family back home in Greece to tell them he was lost on a mountain 11,000-odd miles away in New Zealand. They then relayed the information to police in New Zealand via the Greek emergency services.
"The texts stated that he was lost but not injured and at one point indicated that he could see a police 4 x 4 (SUV) vehicle on the mountain," said Senior Sergeant Marty Edghill, of New Zealand police.
Mr Symeonidis said he could not get to the vehicle because there was a stream in the way.
Four search teams, including a helicopter, were dispatched to rescue Mr Symeonidis, however the fading light meant he was forced to spend the night on the mountain. In the morning Mr Symeonidis followed the stream and at about 10am yesterday (11pm Saturday GMT) he was found by another tourist and driven to where the rescue teams had assembled.
Apart from being cold and tired from his experience he was otherwise fit and well, according to police. He was airlifted to a nearby town where he was checked by medical staff.
Rescue pilot Henry de Waal said Mr Symeonidis was well after his ordeal, and extremely hungry.
"He ate all of one of the guys' chocolate bars," Mr de Waal told the Waikato Times newspaper. "He was actually lucky that it was quite a warm night."
Last July British backpacker Jamie Neale went missing in the Blue Mountains in western Sydney.
After an enormous search and rescue operation the 19-year-old was miraculously found when he walked out of the bush 12 days later, dehydrated but uninjured. Mr Neale had left his mobile phone behind at the backpacker’s hostel where he was staying when he went for his bushwalk.
08.02.2010
