British explorer Benedict Allen has been seen “alive and well” near an airstrip in Papua New Guinea, days after a search was launched to find him.
Allen's sister reported the 57-year-old missing after he failed to catch a scheduled flight on Monday.
He had been travelling solo through Papua New Guinea to locate the remote Yaifo tribe, whom he had first met 30 years earlier.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
According to the BBC, the co-ordinating director for New Tribe Mission in Papua New Guinea, Keith Copley, had confirmed in writing at 5pm local time yesterday that Allen had been found “safe, well and healthy” but that he was “not out of danger yet”.
He was spotted at a remote airstrip 20 miles north-west of Porgera, Enga Province, the BBC writes, but adds that the airstrip is not accessible by road. A helicopter evacuation is expected to be arranged for tomorrow.
BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner says Allen would have been “under no illusions about the dangers and difficulties he would face” when trekking alone through Papua New Guinea, but noted that Allen's preparation did not help matters. “He chose not to take a satellite phone, made no evacuation plan and left no coordinates of where he intended to end his journey.”
Allen recently worked with The Week UK in association with National Geographic, bringing insight into the world of mass extinctions.
-
Will Donald Trump’s second state visit be a diplomatic disaster?Today's Big Question Charlie Kirk shooting, Saturday’s far-right rally and continued Jeffrey Epstein fallout ramps-up risks of already fraught trip
-
England’s ‘dysfunctional’ children’s care systemIn the Spotlight A new report reveals that protection of youngsters in care in England is failing in a profit-chasing sector
-
Cider farms to visit this autumnThe Week Recommends With harvest season fast approaching, spend an afternoon at one of these idyllic orchards
-
Home Office worker accused of spiking mistress’s drink with abortion drugSpeed Read Darren Burke had failed to convince his girlfriend to terminate pregnancy
-
In hock to Moscow: exploring Germany’s woeful energy policySpeed Read Don’t expect Berlin to wean itself off Russian gas any time soon
-
Were Covid restrictions dropped too soon?Speed Read ‘Living with Covid’ is already proving problematic – just look at the travel chaos this week
-
Inclusive Britain: a new strategy for tackling racism in the UKSpeed Read Government has revealed action plan setting out 74 steps that ministers will take
-
Sandy Hook families vs. Remington: a small victory over the gunmakersSpeed Read Last week the families settled a lawsuit for $73m against the manufacturer
-
Farmers vs. walkers: the battle over ‘Britain’s green and pleasant land’Speed Read Updated Countryside Code tells farmers: ‘be nice, say hello, share the space’
-
Motherhood: why are we putting it off?Speed Read Stats show around 50% of women in England and Wales now don’t have children by 30
-
Anti-Semitism in America: a case of double standards?Speed Read Officials were strikingly reluctant to link Texas synagogue attack to anti-Semitism
