Toddler missing for 4 days found alive in mountain

A 22-month-old girl miraculously survived 88 hours in the wild without food and water before she was found on Friday in mountainous area in Yulin, Southwest China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region.

Nicknamed Xiaojiao, the girl went out to play together with her 6-year-old brother and 4-year-old sister while their father, Chen Qingran, was running an errand away from home in a village nestling in mountains in the afternoon on Aug 27.

It did not occur to Chen that the youngest one of his six children had not come back home until he began serving dinner to his children that day.

After searching for his daughter, Chen reported her as missing to police the next afternoon.

The police, along with police dogs and drones, launched the search operation immediately.

"We searched each and every corner of the village, even the cesspool," a police officer said. The rain made the operation harder.

As the search continued into fourth day, a vital clue was provided to the police. Huang Guanglin, a villager, said he heard a faint sound of a child on a hillside.

Chen and police rushed to the scene and found Xiaojiao lying on the grass, pale and weak with insect bites and stings on her feet. But fortunately, she was alive without any major injury.

The girl was immediately sent to hospital. The doctors said the girl survived the ordeal by saving her energy by lying on the ground and drinking rainwater.