Rescuer Found Alive After Five Days in Bulgarian Mountain Shelter

A man who went missing in the Stara Planina mountain range in Bulgaria has been found alive after spending five days in a mountain shelter during a severe storm. The rescue was confirmed by Georgi Krastev from Central Balkan National Park.

Stranded in Harsh Conditions

The man, identified as Nikola, sought refuge in a shelter on Golyam Kademlia peak as a blizzard descended. He faced extreme conditions, including nearly a meter of snow accumulation and a build-up of wet snow that threatened to seal him inside. He actively cleared snow from the shelter door to prevent being trapped.

“I was caught in disappointing weather and didn’t have much choice. I had almost no food. There is about 1 meter of snow on the summit. Perhaps the worst thing was on Sunday, because a wet snow started to fall and it piled up on the door. It was clear to me that during the night the door would freeze and I wouldn’t be able to get out. For that reason, I used to travel out and tear everything out. After an hour I was walking back to the stove – wet,” Nikola recounted.

He emphasized the importance of his efforts to clear the snow, stating that without them, he would have been unable to escape the shelter. “If I hadn’t fought the snow, I would have been stuck in the shelter. I had to wait for someone to come from outside, because if I had given up – I would have been stuck,” he said.

Successful Rescue and Importance of Shelter

Rescuers from Central Balkan National Park brought Nikola down from the mountain to the “Triglav” hut. Georgi Krastev, director of Central Balkan, highlighted the critical role the shelter played in his survival. “If he hadn’t been in the shelter, there was no way he would have lived. What he did saved his life. He made it, he saved his strength, he saved his food until the last,” Krastev noted.

A contributing factor to the difficulty in locating Nikola was his lack of a modern mobile phone capable of signaling for facilitate.

Search Efforts

The Mountain Rescue Service (MSS) of the Bulgarian Red Cross (BRC) initiated the search after receiving a report from the man’s relatives on Wednesday around 10:00 a.m. They had not heard from him for several days. Nikola had departed from the “Partizanska Peseni” hut on Saturday, intending to reach the “Mazalat” and then the “Tazha” huts. He was last seen in the Mazalat area.

Initial rescue attempts were hampered by poor weather conditions. Search teams utilized drones, UTVs, and ATVs to navigate the challenging terrain.

Safety Reminder

Central Balkan National Park management urges hikers to carefully monitor weather forecasts and only undertake mountain treks when conditions are suitable and they are adequately prepared.

Source: Konstantin Kostov, BTA, Central Balkan National Park