THE Dutch tourist, who fell into a crevice during an expedition in the Rwenzori Mountains five days ago and his colleague, were on Thursday airlifted to Kampala. Peter Van Oene, 51, crashed near Elena Peak at around 2:30pm on June 7, and was rescued some six hours later by the Uganda Wildlife (UWA)
By John B. Thawite and Bernard Masereka
THE Dutch tourist, who fell into a crevice during an expedition in the Rwenzori Mountains five days ago and his colleague, were on Thursday airlifted to Kampala. Peter Van Oene, 51, crashed near Elena Peak at around 2:30pm on June 7, and was rescued some six hours later by the Uganda Wildlife (UWA) and Rwenzori Mountaineering Services (RMS).
Lt. Fred Wambi, assisted by Duli Fabius, commanded the rescue team. His 51-year-old co-tourist, Frans Van Den Aardweg, also sustained bruises on the face when the team, which was chain-linked with climbing ropes, also fell during the rescue.
Oene, a florist trainer, and Aardweg, a Dutch army chief mechanic for 32 years, arrived at Nyakalengijo, the main entry into the park, on Thursday. The tourists were airlifted from Kasese Airfield accompanied by doctors Precious Mlingo and Isaac Ssebowa of the AAR emergency unit.
They were seen off by RMS boss, Stanley Kanzenze, the Queen Elizabeth Protected Area manager, Tom Okello, and several RMS and UWA guides, who had helped carry Peter downhill for five days. Kanzenze said the five-day track back to Nyakalengijo involved 63 workers.
“It was like a movie,†said a jovial Peter Van Oene, as he recounted his ordeal. He said he had accidentally slipped off the edge of a cliff, crashing at its bottom, some 10 feet deep in the chilling snow.