A 23-year-old medical student who was missing in a remote Australian mountain range for two weeks has been located.
Hadi Nazari from Melbourne went missing on Dec. 26, 2024, when he separated from two hiking companions to take photos in the Kosciuszko National Park in the Snowy Mountains in New South Wales state, the Associated Press reports.
He survived on two muesli bars, foraged berries and creek water, police said on Wednesday.
His rescue came after he approached a group of hikers on Wednesday afternoon, telling them he was lost and thirsty, Police Inspector Josh Broadfoot said.
“This is the fourteenth day we’ve been looking for him and for him to come out and be in such good spirits and in such great condition, it’s incredible,” Broadfoot said, according to Reuters, adding that Nazari was in “really good spirits.”
The hiker had traveled more than six miles across steep and densely wooded terrain from where he was last seen. More than 300 people had searched for him in the national park that is home to the 7,310-foot Mount Kosciuszko.
Nazari was reunited with his two hiking friends on Wednesday before he was flown to a hospital for a medical assessment, Broadfoot said. Video showed them in a deep embrace prior to his departure.
Weather conditions are mild during the current Southern Hemisphere summer.
Searchers had been optimistic that Nazari would be found alive. He was an experienced hiker equipped with a tent. Searchers had found his campfire, camera and hiking poles in recent days, suggesting that he was continuing to walk.
Ambulance Insp. Adam Mower said Nazari only needed treatment for dehydration.
“He’s in remarkable condition for a person who’s been missing for so long,” Mower said.
