When found, Dang Tien Lam said he was very tired and hungry and asked if he could have something to eat.
Dang Tien Lam, a six-year-old boy who went missing in a Vietnamese forest on August 17, has been found safe and alive. Lam, a resident of Van Yen district in the Yen Bai province, was found deep in the forest on Wednesday by a local farmer, who said the boy was very weak and was unable to stand.
Local authorities had mobilised around 200 people including police, soldiers and volunteers to look for the boy, who lost his way after leaving for home from a stream where he was playing with his nine siblings. Lam had gone to visit his relative's house for a meal when the incident happened, local media reports said.
During the intensive search operation, rescuers scanned through CCTV footage first to figure out if the child had been kidnapped. Once that was ruled out, rescuers scoured streams and even emptied fish ponds to check if the boy had drowned, VnExpress reported on its website.
Just before noon on Wednesday, farmer Ly Van Nang had just returned to his tent in the forest for lunch when he heard the cries of the child. He managed to find the boy sitting in a bush. Lam was very weak and not able to stand, Nang later said.
The boy told Nang that he was very tired and hungry and asked him if he had something that he could eat. Some reports said the boy neither had food or water for days, while other said he survived on leaves and wild fruits and stream water.
"When he got lost, he could not find his way home. And the more he walked, the more he could not find a way out," the boy told Nang, as per local news site Dan Tri.
Nang quickly carried the boy down the hill where he was reunited with his parents before being taken to a medical facility for health check-up.