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Two Dutch men have been released unharmed after getting lost in the inhospitable Bosnian mountains yesterday. After a frightening night in freezing cold, they were rescued by the huge Bosnian emergency services.
Chiel de Groot and Eline Aarts (25) from Rotterdam, recent graduates, are on a trip to the Balkans. Yesterday they decided to take a walk in the Visocica mountains, about 35 kilometers south of the capital Sarajevo. ,,We had chosen the route on the Internet. But we got lost and by late afternoon it was dark,” says De Groot. “At four o’clock, we had completely lost our way,” adds Aarts.
,,We tried five strategies, trying to follow the river for example, or climbing straight up the mountain. But it was too difficult. We couldn’t find a place anywhere. Waterfalls so we had to go back. Then we realized that we had to be rescued,” says De Groot. But both lacked range in the hard to reach area. ,,We thought we had to climb as high as possible, to receive a signal.” Finally, after hours of climbing, we managed to call the emergency number at ten o’clock last night.
big alarm
The Bosnian emergency services immediately gave the alert. The two sent their location via their phones. We could see that they had arrived in a dangerous ravine,” says Fahrudin Dobraca, director of a mountain rescue service in Sarajevo, who carried out an operation that night with 14 rescuers – all volunteers. “We told them not to move if possible. After that their battery was dead and we lost contact.
In addition to several rescue services with dogs, the police also assisted in the search, and the EU peacekeeping force Eufor was called upon. “We found their car in the village of Bobovica. The area they had traveled from there is very inhospitable, with peaks reaching 2000 meters high. Last night it was three below zero, where the Dutch were sitting maybe six,” Dobraca explains hastily.
Meanwhile, De Groot and Aarts were trying to keep warm. ,,We were in a clearing, on a slope, full of wind. We thought they might rescue us with a helicopter, so we sat there,” says Aarts. They ate some of their lunch leftovers, cookies and a bag of M&Ms. “Then we were scared. I read on the internet that there were black bears here. Suddenly we heard a noise and we were shocked. It turned out to be a rolling log. In the hours that followed, the main fear was: will we be found in time?
“The first thing we did was to apologize”
Early at night, the two saw people with flashlights, but they were on the other side of the deep, impassable chasm. In the end, it took around nine hours this morning before the Dutch saw the rescuers come down the mountain. “The first thing we did was apologize,” Aarts said. “That we were stupid enough to walk here. But they laughed about it, they didn’t want to hear about it.” Rescuers provided clothes, blankets and food. “And they immediately wanted a selfie.”
De Groot and Aarts also received a first medical check on the spot. “They were hypothermic and exhausted, but their condition didn’t seem serious,” said rescuer Dobraca. “We treated them for their blisters and scratches. Given the circumstances, they are lucky.
Another fifteen kilometers through the mountains
After being rescued, the Dutch had to walk another fifteen kilometers through the mountains, partly independently and partly with the help of rescuers, to the nearest place where an emergency car could pull up. to return. From there they were taken to a mountain hut. “When we got there, it was very busy with the press and people from a nearby village. We didn’t know what happened to us was so important here,” says De Groot. further medical check-up at the mountain refuge.There seemed to be nothing serious with her.
The two unfortunate tourists plan to continue their Balkan adventure by sleeping on an air mattress in their car. But first, they book a night in a comfortable hotel with a hot shower, says Aarts. “And maybe we’ll do a little less outdoor activity from now on.”
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