Namibia: Missing Tourists in Fish River Canyon Found

Tourists who were reported as having disappeared in Namibia’s Fish River Canyon have been accounted for, local authorities have said.

A search was launched for the hikers over the weekend amid uncertainty over their actual numbers.
They included a ‘South African couple’ who were said to have sent out multiple distress signals, prompting the rescue mission.

But on Monday, a Namibian government tourism official said “that the whereabouts of the couple and others who had been reported missing were now known and that nobody was missing.”

An official of the Namibia Wildlife Resorts, NWR, said that six of the tourists exited the park without “clocking out.”
The official urged all tourists and hikers at the canyon to register before continuing to their respective destinations.
The canyon, which is situated along the lower reaches of the Fish River in southern Namibia, is one of Africa’s most impressive natural wonders.

It’s Africa’s longest canyon and the second largest in the world, after the Grand Canyon in Arizona.
The intense 85km, 52 miles, hiking trail on the floor of the canyon is only accessible from May to mid-September because of the soaring desert temperatures.

BBC/Christopher Ojilere