Drones, rescue dogs scour Mount Fansipan in search for missing Brit Aiden Webb

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The search for the young climber has expanded to 100 people, including rangers, policemen and locals.

Sa Pa District has also announced a $2,200 reward for anyone who finds him.

On June 7, Aiden’s aunt Lisa Shaw Webb made a plea for further help.

“Does anyone in the Sapa or Lao Cai area have access to a Drone with quality camera (Phantom or equivalent). We also need a competent and skilled pilot. Time is running out and we would like to search this area as soon as possible,” wrote Lisa.

Her call was answered this morning when a Vietnamese group arrived at the park and went up the mountain by cable car before flying their camera drones from a height of 2,800m

Two trained dog squads from the Search and Rescue Operations Department under Vietnam’s Ministry of Defense were also dispatched on June 8.

Trained dogs  from the Search and Rescue Operations Department under Vietnam’s Ministry of Defense have been dispatched. Photo by: Bao Lao Cai

However, authorities said the search is getting more difficult due to the dense forests and steep terrain.

Besides the reward, authorities in Sa Pa said the district would pay for the search operation.

Meanwhile, a fundraising page to help pay for the search for Adien has reached nearly £6,000. His family also offered a VND100 million reward for anyone who finds him.

Aiden Webb, 22, was reported missing on June 4 when he was attempting to climb Fansipan, Indochina’s highest mountain, near Sapa in the northwestern province of Lao Cai.

His aunt, Lisa Shaw Webb, raised the alarm via a widely-shared Facebook post, saying he was last seen on Friday on Mount Fansipan in Hoang Lien National Park. His father and uncle have flown into the country to join the search for the 22-year-old.

A group of young Vietnamese has started to fly drones with camera over Hoang Lien Son Park, in an attempt to help finding Aiden Webb. Photo by VnExpress/Hoan Vu

A day later, in an interview with the press, Aiden’s girlfriend Bluebell Baughan revealed that he was able to alert her via text message that he had slipped and fallen by a waterfall, hurting his knee and arm.

This is not the first time an incident involving tourists trekking on Fansipan has happened. A Vietnamese university student named Pham Ngoc Anh, 20, disappeared on the way down from the peak in 2013, and has never been found.

Related news:

> Vietnam offers $2,200 reward for finding missing British climber

> Missing British tourist injured on Vietnam's highest mountain

> British tourist reported missing on Fansipan Mountain in northern Vietnam