Rescuers search for the four geological workers, who went missing in Ailao Mountains in Southwest China's Yunnan Province on November 13, 2021. Photo: VCG

Eight days since four geological workers went missing in Southwest China's Yunnan Province, there are good signs for their safe rescue after their raincoats and excreta were found. 

The four geological workers from the Kunming Natural Resources Comprehensive Survey Center of China Geological Survey went into the Ailao Mountains for work through Zhenyuan county in Pu'er city, Yunnan around 9 am on November 13 before losing contact with the survey center. 

A total of two raincoats were found with one at their camping shack and the other near the downstream of a river near their shack in Zhenyuan county on Saturday, reports said. Meanwhile, missing people's excreta was also found near the downstream of the river. 

No conclusion has been made about why the raincoats were left behind, but all the areas along the upstream of the river and the area where the raincoats were found will be the focus of the search now, said Liu Dongjun, a political commissar of Pu 'er Forest Fire Brigade.

According to an official from the publicity department of the county, the four researchers did not bring satellite phones and only brought a day's supply of foods since they had planned to return the next day. 

The survey center reported the workers as missing on November 15 and more than 1,900 rescuers, 110 vehicles, 14 satellite phones, five drones and two helicopters have since been dispatched to the mountains to search for the missing workers as of Saturday. 

The geographical environment of the area where the workers went missing is very complicated since it is located in the core area of Ailao Mountains National Nature Reserve with high mountains and dense forests. 

The rescuers had to start at the foot of the mountain, which is 1,700 meters above sea level and climb over several mountains as high as 2,800 meters above sea level. 

According to Jimu News, the four missing workers were born in the 1980s and 1990s, with the youngest born in 1996. 

Although there have been few missing persons reported on the Ailao Mountains in the past, some people have been attacked by beasts such as black bears in the mountains, Jimu News reported. 

Besides, it has been raining since the four workers went into the mountains and the temperatures are very low at night. 

Geological experts also noted that the most dangerous conditions the missing personnel could face are hypothermia and dehydration. 

Global Times