The Hantane trek that went awry

By Manjula Fernando

"Had we been a few more hours late, some students may not have made it down alive".

Brigadier Udayantha Wijeratne, General Officer Commanding 11 Division who headed the 200 odd military contingent on the biggest rescue mission ever carried out in the Hantane Mountain trek said. The mission was called by the Police emergency unit last Sunday to track down 453 undergraduates who got lost due to inclement weather last week.

The rain, heavy fog and extreme cold battered the ill prepared youth and the trip became a nightmare for some of them. On Sunday 16 December, a group of 388 freshers from Sri Jayawardenapura University and some 65 students from Vavunia campus of the Jaffna University reached Kandy on two separate trips.

The highlight of their trip was an excursion to the famous Hantane summit. Nick named 'lovers trek' the hike to Hantane is an etched tradition in Sri Lankan campus life.

But lack of preparedness could prove this ultimate pleasure trip to one of the most beautiful mountain peaks, a kiss with Satan as proved last week. However, a near calamity, that would have attributed to another so called 'doomsday occurrence' was averted by timely intervention of Peradeniya students, the Police, the Fire Brigade and the military last Sunday.

The two groups from J'pura and Jaffna joined in their mountain excursion. Freshers from the Arts Faculty and Jaffna Applied Science Students, held a meeting at Peradeniya University before their excursion began later than usual. They set off to the mountain peak from the university side with a target of reaching the tea estate on the other side before the sunset.

Conflicting statements

There are conflicting statements however, about the time the group set off. According to the police they started by 11 am, but a university authority said it was much later than that.

An official with the Kandy police said the full hike to climb the summit and get back, takes nearly eight hours on a clear day and December 16 being unusually gloomy the students should not have taken such a risk. The ideal time to set off on this excursion according to the seasoned hikers is 7 am with a time target to reach the last tower on the decent by 3.00pm.

Trekkers being assisted into the bus

Carrying one of the trekkers piggy back into the bus

Ambulance awaiting to rush dehydrated trkkers foe medical attention

Two groups enjoyed an event-less climb up. Unfortunately, a heavy downpour began in the late afternoon. With the rain and unusually cold weather, a thick blanket of mist descended on the mountain.

"Students were not wearing raincoats, there were umbrellas and they were not even carrying torches, they were as ill prepared as one could be," a senior police official said. Most of them were in slippers. "There is an excursion club in the Peradeniya Uuniversity, if they sought their help, this trip would have ended differently, the club has special ropes to guide large groups and amateurs," a university official said adding that except for getting the help of some university students to come as guides, there had been little preparation by the visiting undergraduates. The university security guards have also denied being informed by the group of their intended climb although that is usually the norm followed by visitors to the Peradeniya University.

"Eight students could not possibly guide a group as large as 453, especially if all of them are amateur mountain climbers and also if the weather is against you," Brigadier Wijeratne added.

As the climb down proved impossible with the thick fog and with some climbers showing signs of extreme anxiety, the guides called their friends at the university for help.

President of the Peradeniya University Student Union, Janaka Nilanga Madushan who was involved in the rescue operation said, "We received a call saying that some of the girls in the group were in bad shape and unable to proceed to the mountain top."

"We went and brought down 45 of the students back to the university around 1.00pm."

"Then around 6.00pm they called us again to say that they have lost track and could not find their way since the fog was so thick. Kandy received one of the highest rainfalls that day."

"A group of 80 of us immediately set off to where they were and some of those who joined were seasoned trekkers with the Hantane Conservation Team." A call to 119 in Colombo went through around 8.00 pm. A woman member of the J'pura group thought it best to reach the police emergency for help. By this time all the students were dripping wet, some were close to hysteria and others were extremely exhausted with no food and water for many hours. The climb down is so dangerous that one missed step could prove fatal.

As soon as the call was received, the Kandy police emergency unit was alerted by Colombo. Just the previous month the police with the help of the military had rescued a group of 15 students in the same locale.

"This is the biggest rescue operation we have come across at Hantane," an official from the police emergency unit confirmed.

The Police emergency rounded up a rescue operation. Over 200 military personnel from 2nd volunteer battalion of the Sinha Regiment and 12th Gajaba battalion were dispatched to Hantane range for help. Nearly 30 fire fighters also reached the site around 8.30 pm with their rescue gear.

The rescuers managed to call the students who were by then scattered and had drifted apart and appealed them to stay until help reached them. The rescue teams were guided by the students from the Peradeniya University and soldiers who took part in the previous mission, a month ago.

Finding exact locations on the mountain proved to be the toughest job for rescuers, with many students distraught with fright and exhaustion, were in bad shape to communicate. They were tracked only by descriptions in relation to the city they could see below.

By 3.30 am the next day the teams managed to wrap up the rescue operation after tracing down the last group of 47 students uphill and bringing them to safety. Two doctors from the Kandy hospital and an Army doctor were called in to treat students who were in need of medical care.

Emergency treatment

An army medical assistant and a doctor who had recently passed out from the Peradeniya Medical Faculty climbed up the mountain to treat, four girls and a boy, who were semi-conscious. They received emergency treatment in a shed used by the guards at one of the telecommunication towers before being carried down.

"Ten ambulances took turns in transporting students to the Kandy hospital."

Over 40 students about five in need of medical attention were admitted to the Kandy Hospital immediately. The entire operation, which is the biggest joint rescue mission at the Hantane range, took up over ten hours from 6.00pm to 4.00 am the next day. The freshers changed into clothes given by the Peradeniya students at the hostels and 34 Buddhist Monks received robes from the Asgiriya Temple, to change from their wet clothes. All students who were suffering from exposure to extreme cold were served hot drinks immediately by students in hostels and by the military. "We were lucky to have found them all safe," Brigadier Wijeratne said adding that the sudden change in weather would have been a reason for the mishap but it is all too obvious that the students had no idea of the risks they were taking.