BACOLOD CITY - Search and rescue operations are underway to locate six foreign nationals believed stranded in a hiking trail in Valencia, Negros Oriental on Wednesday, March 19.
The Valencia Municipal Police Station identified the missing foreign hikers as German nationals 67-year-old Wolfgang, 60-year-old Aldwin Fink, and 58-year-old Torsten Martin Groschupp, Canadian 50-year-old Terry, British 63-year-old Alexander Radvanyi, and Russian 38-year-old Anton Chernov.
Police Lt. Stephen Polinar, spokesperson of the Negros Oriental police, said that the hikers departed from Sitio Lunas, Barangay Malabo, Valencia at 8 a.m. on Wednesday to Twin Lakes in Sibulan town, Negros Oriental.
However, they failed to return that day, prompting a family member to report them missing to authorities.
Polinar said that one of the foreigners is the guide of the group as he had been to the hiking trail and has been staying in the province for sometime.
Polinar said that rescue operations started on Thursday, March 20, led by the Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (DRRMO) of Valencia.
However, intermittent rain is delaying the rescue operation, making it difficult for the rescuers to find the hikers due to the slippery trail.
Polinar said that rescuers also tapped the DRRMO of adjacent San Jose town and Sibulan to aid them in finding the stranded hikers.
Polinar said that private individuals have also been helping in the search by flying their drones in the trail.