Liang Sheng-yueh, 21, from Taiwan was trapped in a remote Nepal valley with his girlfriend but she died three days before rescuers found them

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

Two Taiwanese trekkers who went missing in a remote area of Nepal seven weeks ago have been found – but only one survived the ordeal.



Liu Chen-chun, 19, died just three days before the rescue team located the couple in the Dhading region of central Nepal, but her boyfriend managed to survive despite running out of food.

Liang Sheng-yueh, 21, is being treated in hospital in Kathmandu where he was airlifted after being rescued from a valley 2,600 metres (8,500ft) above sea level, where the couple had been trapped for more than a month.

“He was sleeping when we found them,” said one of the rescuers, Madhav Basnyat.

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“He woke up after he heard us. We were very surprised to find him alive. He said that the girl died three days earlier.”

Basnyat said the couple, who were found near Tipling in northern Dhading, had followed a river downhill in the hope of finding a village but became stuck when they reached the edge of a waterfall and were unable to climb back up.

“They had been trapped there for 47 days when we reached,” he said.

Speaking haltingly as he sipped hot soup, Liang told AFP it had been “very cold” on the mountain, and difficult to sleep.

Doctors treating Liang said he had lost 30kg and maggots had infested his right leg.

“When he was brought in he had maggots and was starved because he hadn’t eaten,” said his doctor, Sanjay Karki.

The couple survived on potatoes and noodles until they ran out of food and had to keep going on water alone.

Liang’s father had travelled to Nepal after the couple went missing and chartered a helicopter to search for them.

Spring is peak season in Nepal’s snow-capped peaks, a popular hiking destination with about 150,000 trekkers visiting the Annapurna and Everest regions every year.