Village prepares to party as boy, 3, saved after 72 hours alone in Siberian woods

A boy of three has been rescued after surviving alone for 72 hours in forest full of bears and wolves. Tserin Dopchut lived off a small bar of chocolate he had in his pocket when he wandered into the woodland in Russia’s remote Siberia. He slept on a dry makeshift bed under a larch tree. But he was found safe and well after a major rescue mission was launched and has ben dubbed Mowgli after the character in Rudyard Kipling’s Jungle Book. “Hurray! Little Tserin has been found alive!,” the head of Tuva Republic, Sholban Kara-Ool said.

There are wolves, and bears in the forest. The bears are now fattening for the winter. They can attack anything that moves.

Regional emergencies’ chief Ayas Saryglar

The boy was believed to have followed a puppy he was playing with into the woods and lost his bearings. It prompted round-the-clock searches, with everyone from his home village Khut, which has a population of about 400, joining the rescue effort. He was found when he heard his uncle calling him through the trees. Rescuers say he was lucky to survive as the woods are full of wolves and other predators, with freezing temperatures at night and a fast-flowing river running through them. “It is now predicted he will become a rescuer himself, because he showed incredible stamina for his age by surviving for so long alone in these cold woods,” said Mr Kara-Ool.

The whole village is throwing a party to celebrate his survival. He was given the second name of Mowgli.

head of Tuva Republic, Sholban Kara-Ool

Europe