TWO Ukrainian tourists, who had lost their way in the fastnesses of a jungle near Na Muang Waterfall 2 at nighttime, were rescued by the police and civilian volunteers.

Kwenda Dema, 27, said that last Jan. 8 he and his girlfriend, Karolina Achin, 34, rented a motorbike to explore Samui island. Upon reaching Na Muang subdistrict, they decided to trek up to Na Muang Waterfall 2. They parked the motorbike at the foot of the mountain.

From the waterfall, he said, they continued trekking to the peak of the fall, and reached it at dusk. Upon coming down, they could not remember the path they had taken. They became worried when darkness caught up with them. After walking for a couple of hours in pitch darkness and still could not find their way, they called the staff of the hotel where they were billeted to ask for help.

At around 8 p.m. the police at Na Muang Service Station were notified by the Maenam Villa staff and immediately a rescue team was organized to locate the tourists.

The search-team members divided themselves into subteams going in different directions of the steep mountain in the waterfall area. They were aided by spotlights and sirens. At around 11 p.m. the rescuers heard calls for help from the tourists but they could not determine the area where the calls came from because it was dark. The rescuers then called on the couple to light up a fire so that the rescue team could determine their location. The fire enabled the rescuers to get to the distressed tourists at the mountaintop.

When the two tourists saw the rescuers they were so overjoyed and relieved that they hugged them.

Police said the tourists were taken to a hospital for checkup and that they were found to have suffered no injuries. “They were just exhausted from walking for hours,” an official said.

Mr. Kwenda said he and his girlfriend were terrified when nightfall came and still could not find their way back. He added that they were thankful that they had their cellphones with them to call their hotel for help.