The boy was found at about 20 km from where he had disappeared.— Photo supplied by local residents

YÊN BÀI — Police in Văn Yên District, the northern mountainous province of Yên Bái, reported that a six-year-old boy, who went missing in the forest, has been found alive after five days of intensive searches.

The boy, Đ.V.L., was discovered on Wednesday afternoon by a local resident in a forest area of Lang Thíp Commune, Văn Yên District, about 20km from where he had disappeared.

L. was immediately taken to a medical centre for care and health monitoring.

Earlier, on the afternoon of August 17, L. had gone with a group to pick fruit on a hill behind his house. He wandered off on his own in a different direction and became lost. When the alarm was raised, authorities mobilised more than 150 people to search for the boy.

Local officials and residents drained a pond covering nearly 80sq.m near the area where he went missing and reviewed footage from cameras along Provincial Road 164.

In addition, several groups searched deep holes, caves and streams over the following days, but there was no sign of him. — VNS