A six-year-old boy who had been missing for four days was found alive in a forested area of northern Vietnam, police confirmed on Thursday.
According to the AFP, the boy, who disappeared on Saturday after failing to return home with his siblings from a family celebration in Yen Bai province, was located on Wednesday by search teams.
Authorities in Lam Giang commune launched an extensive search operation, fearing the worst. “We even drained a pond, suspecting he might have fallen in,” a police officer involved in the search told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Over 200 people, including police and local volunteers, participated in the search effort, according to reports from state media. On Wednesday, the boy was discovered in the forest, sitting in a cassava bush, exhausted and covered in mud.
“The boy was found tired but otherwise safe. He was given food and his health was checked. He is doing well now,” the police official added.
The child’s mother, Ly Thi Phai, expressed immense relief after being reunited with her son. “I was overwhelmed with joy when I saw him alive,” she told VietnamNet. “I couldn’t help but cry when I noticed he had become thinner and weaker.”
The young boy later recounted that he became lost in the dense forest and grew increasingly disoriented as he wandered. To survive, he drank water from a stream and ate leaves and wild fruits he recognized from previous foraging trips.
