4 days ago
Award-winning journalist found alive after a week lost in Norwegian wilderness
Alec Luhn went missing in the remote Folgefonna national park in Norway after embarking on a four-day hike on July 31.
Mr Luhn, a US-born reporter who worked in Moscow for The Telegraph between 2017 and 2019, was reported missing on Monday after failing to catch a flight from Bergen to Britain.
He injured himself the evening he set out, according to Geir Arne Sunde, the head of the local air ambulance service and trauma centre.
'He is seriously injured, but not critically injured,' Mr Sunde said, after rescue teams found Mr Luhn at 11.34am local time yesterday.
The award-winning journalist survived in the mountains in very bad weather for five days, with little food or drink, Mr Sunde said.
'I can't remember us finding someone alive after so many days,' Stig Hope, head of the operations leadership team at Folgefonna and a Red Cross volunteer, said.
'The search doesn't always end like this − but today, it did. It's a huge relief for everyone who's been part of the effort.'
The search for Mr Luhn involved rescuers from the Red Cross, police, dogs, specialised climbers and drones.
It was suspended first on Monday night and then again on Tuesday because of poor weather, including heavy rainfall. Helicopters had been hunting for the journalist for several days when one finally spotted him, Mr Sunde said.
Veronika Silchenko, his wife, told CBS News it was a 'miracle' that he had been found. 'I think it's a miracle,' she said. 'It's the best day of my life.'
Drew Gaddis, Mr Luhn's sister, confirmed he had been found 'in overall good health' and was being taken to hospital in Bergen in a helicopter. 'We can breathe again,' she said.
His wife said that Mr Luhn, now a climate reporter, was 'basically obsessed with the Arctic'.
'He loves glaciers and snow, and he loves explorers… He's trying his best to go to the coldest countries,' she said of Mr Luhn, who once went to the Arctic to try to find polar bears for a Telegraph story.
Mr Luhn has numerous awards for his reporting, including two Emmy nominations.
He spent several years in Moscow for The Telegraph newspaper, followed by a stint in Istanbul. He now lives in Britain, where he is a Pulitzer Centre Ocean Reporting Network fellow.
