A 23-year-old hiker whose disappearance sparked a nearly two-week-long land and air search of dense Australian wilderness has been found alive, authorities said Wednesday. Hadi Nazari was last seen by friends on December 26 as he walked down a trail to take photos in Kosciuszko National Park, south of Sydney in the state of New South Wales. When he failed to return to their campsite, his friends notified police who began an intensive search involving 300 people from multiple rescue agencies, NSW Police said in a statement.
In the end, Nazari wasn’t found by searchers but by a group of hikers near a trail – about 10 kilometers (6 miles) from the search command post – at about 3:15 p.m. on Wednesday, January 8.
“My understanding is that there was a group of hikers in the area,” Riverina Police District Commander Superintendent Andrew Spliet told reporters. “He called out to them and disclosed who he was, and [said] that he’d been lost in the bush.” Video released by the NSW Rural Fire Service showed Nazari with the hikers as he waited for rescuers to airlift him out.
He was later winched into a helicopter and transported to the command post, where he was examined by paramedics. Spliet said Nazari seemed to be “in really good health.” Nazari told rescuers he had found two granola bars at an abandoned hut, but “that’s pretty much all that he’s had to consume over the last two weeks,” Spliet said.
“He’s been reunited with his family, who are very, v.
