CANACONA
Four women from Amone-Poinguinim who had gone in search of wild mushrooms got lost in the dense forest of Cotigao Wildlife Sanctuary on Monday evening and were later traced by family members in the early hours of Tuesday.
According to sources, the four women had entered the forest at about 6 pm to collect wild mushrooms, which are in high demand.
Their hunt for mushrooms took them deep into the forests of Cotigao Wildlife Sanctuary, and when it became dark, they decided to return to the village.
After walking for well over 2 hours, the women realised they had reached an unknown and unfamiliar area. They got lost in the forest and were unable to access the path leading back to the village.
It was already too dark and the intermittent rains made the forest cover even more dangerous for the four women.
One of the women happened to carry a mobile in her bag and tried to call her home, but there was no network to make the call.
They began moving in one direction, when the woman suddenly noticed a weak network on her mobile phone.
She then called her family to report that all four of them had got lost in the forest and needed help to get back home.
The woman could not identify the location but could hear the sound of a stream nearby. The four women were then advised to remain near the stream, while a group would leave for the forest area to track them. The mobile signal then went dead, leaving the four women stranded in the forest.
Word of their situation quickly spread in Amone and relatives of the four missing women went out in search of them.
The people first proceeded in the direction which the four women had taken in search of mushrooms.
The family members tried locating the stream for a number of hours, before they finally reached the site and located the four women near the banks of the stream. The four women returned along with their family members to Amone in the early hours of Tuesday.
