On 2nd December the GNR Territorial Command of Braga, rescued four women and a man, aged between 22 and 25, of Italian and Slovenian nationality, who were lost in the Peneda-Gerês National Park.
A group of young people, who were taking a trail, became disoriented and asked for help to GNR at 18:00 hrs, via emergency contact 112, unable to specify their location. Three patrols were immediately deployed in all-terrain vehicles to the area between the Parque das Termas do Gerês and the Miradouro da Boneca where the youngsters were supposed to be lost, since there were few references given by them.
In this urgent action of search and rescue, due to the fall of the night, the difficult accesses and the low temperatures registered at that moment, around 3ºC, the rescue was coordinated through the Situation Room of the Territorial Command of Braga. The operation was directed based on GPS coordinates, sent by the Messenger application, in real time, from the mobile phone of one of the young people, which allowed them to direct the patrols and locate the group, an hour after the alert was given.
The youngsters when they were found showed signs of fatigue, and were assisted and transported to Vila do Gerês, but did not require hospital treatment.
The operation involved military personnel from the Gerês Territorial Post, Terras de Bouro Territorial Post and a Team for the Protection of Nature and the Environment.