Hungarian tourist falls off a steep waterfall in Romania – UPDATE: Tourist corrects reports

A Hungarian tourist was hiking in the Bihor Mountains in Romania when he fell from the steep cliffs of the Săritoarea Bohodei waterfall.

Hungarian tourist suffers serious accident in Romania

Illustration. Photo: depositphotos.com

Rescue units were sent to search for the Hungarian tourist. However, due to the difficult terrain, he was rescued only after 11 hours, Romanian news site Digi24 reports. The man was injured and taken to hospital, Telex writes.

According to the authorities, the rescue operation took so long because the conditions in the area made it difficult for the rescuers. They had to cut their way through rough terrain and fallen trees to reach the man. It was also difficult to lift the stretcher on which the injured tourist had to be secured.

Once this was done, the man was taken to hospital.

In the last 24 hours, a total of 23 people have been rescued from the mountains in Romania, nine of them in need of medical treatment, Telex concludes.

UPDATE: The tourist was taken to Hungary for treatment

“I didn’t fall off the cliffs of the waterfall, they wouldn’t have brought me down alive,” the injured man told Telex on Sunday morning. He said that, contrary to reports, he did not fall from the steep cliffs of the Săritoarea Bohodei waterfall. The experienced hiker suffered a broken ankle and a dislocated fibula, but says it was not the accident itself but the circumstances of his rescue that were really adventurous.

The accident happened around 7 PM, after the hikers had turned back from the waterfall, which Zoltán said was about 50-100 metres away.

“We were on our way back from the waterfall, on a narrow hiking trail, when I stepped into a ditch with my left foot, my right foot stayed up, twisting my right ankle. I didn’t fall into the waterfall: I probably wouldn’t have been brought down alive,” he said.

As there was no reception at the scene of the accident, Zoltán’s hiking companion had to walk for kilometres before he could make a phone call and call the ambulance.

They waited three hours before the first rescuer arrived, who examined the man at around 10 PM and radioed to alert the others. Four other rescuers arrived, but they were not enough to make the descent with the stretcher safe. Later, more rescuers arrived from different locations, and it took about 15 of them to bring the injured Zoltán down. They finally made it down around 6.30 in the morning.

The man was taken by ambulance to the hospital in Belényes (Beiuș), where it was discovered that he had not only broken his ankle, but also dislocated his fibula. The man is an experienced, well-prepared hiker who knows the Bihor well, “but a false step like that is part of the package,” he says. Zoltán is now in Hungary, where he will continue to be cared for.

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Featured image: depositphotos.com