A 6-year-old boy who went missing in Vietnam five days ago was found Thursday in the woods about four miles from where he went missing. The child was so weak he couldn't stand up. Police said it was a “miracle” that the boy was found alive.
On August 17, Dang Tien Lam, who lives in the northwestern province of Yen Bai, was playing in a stream with nine siblings when he got lost in the nearby hills, the BBC reported.
Five days later, the six-year-old was found on Wednesday by local farmers who heard the child crying while clearing a cinnamon field near the forest.
Lam, who was found sitting in cassava bushes about four miles from where he went missing, was so weak he was unable to stand.
“I'm so tired I can't stand. Please carry me,” the child was reported to have said, according to Ly Van Nang, a 52-year-old farmer. Nang, according to local news outlet Dan Tri, said the boy explained that he couldn't find his way home. “The longer he walked, the more he couldn't find his way out,” the farmer added.
“Miracle”
The boy is said to have survived by eating leaves, wild fruit and drinking water from a stream. According to the BBC, photos appearing online show locals caring for him and giving him cake after he was carried out of the forest.
Police say it was a “miracle” that Lam was found alive. Local authorities have mobilised more than 150 people – including police, soldiers and local volunteers – to search for the young boy.
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