GUWAHATI: Lost in a dense jungle of Arunachal Pradesh, Joynal Ali and his friends ate wild leaves and stems, slept in torrential rains and walked miles for 17 days and lived to tell the tale.
The construction labourers from Assam were reported missing after they entered the jungle after fleeing their camp at Huri in Kurung Kumey district bordering China in the dead of the night on July 5. Some were rescued last week.
Thirsty, hungry and tired, they rested or slept at every spot that they stumbled upon.
“We walked endlessly for 17 days to get out of the jungle but did not find a way,” he told the leaders of All Assam Minority Students’ Union (AAMSU) who visited him at his house.
The students filmed the visit on a cellphone and shared it with this newspaper.
The workers, who hail from different parts of Assam, were working on a road being constructed from Huri to the China border by the Border Roads Organisation.
“We relied entirely on water for the first two days. But as we started feeling weak, we began scouting for fruits. We came across wild fruits but found them inedible. We then ate banana stem, raw banana, wild leaves, etc,” Ali said.
The jungle is infested with snakes and district magistrate Nighee Bengia said even the locals are afraid of venturing into it.
Ali said they did come across the reptiles but were bitten by insects.
“It rained for many days and we could not sleep. I have no idea how some of us got separated,” Ali said.
Khairul Islam, another survivor, said he felt he got a new life.
“During the last few days, I could barely move. I had lost all hopes of survival but God saved my life,” Islam told the AAMSU leaders from his hospital bed at Naharlagun near Itanagar.
The workers had no strength left. Some were injured in the legs. The rescuers carried them to safety on their back.
Quoting the two survivors, AAMSU president Rejaul Karim Sarkar said they had fled due to a shortage of food.
Eid was also approaching and they wanted to go home, he said. AAMSU assistant general secretary Raju Rahman said they returned from jaws of death. So far, 10 of the 19 workers have been rescued.
Some of those rescued claimed three died in the jungle. The district administration said the search and rescue teams did not come across or recover anybody.