Bombers Search for Boy, 13, Lost on Scout Hike at Coll de Banyuls
A 13-year-old scout went missing overnight near the Coll de Banyuls-Rabós pass in the Alt Empordà. Drones, dogs and a helicopter have joined the search.
Emergency crews spent Saturday night searching for a 13-year-old boy who went missing during a scout outing in the Alt Empordà, in the province of Girona. The Bombers de la Generalitat (Catalonia’s fire and rescue service) said on Sunday that the boy lost contact with his group near the Coll de Banyuls-Rabós, a mountain pass in the Albera massif in the Pyrenees.
The age comes from La Vanguardia. The Bombers described him only as a minor and said he belonged to an agrupament escolta (a scout group). A helicopter joined the operation on Sunday morning, according to the newspaper.
Where the boy went missing
The Coll de Banyuls-Rabós links the village of Rabós in the Alt Empordà with Banyuls de la Marenda in Rosselló, the area Catalans call Northern Catalonia. El Caso reported that hikers and cyclists use the pass often.
According to La Vanguardia, the scouts were walking a route between Portbou and Espolla when the group lost track of the teenager in the area around the pass. How he became separated from the others has not been disclosed.
Who is searching and with what
The Bombers said on their social media account that a large team worked through the night. It includes ground crews, the service’s drone unit, the GRAE (the Bombers’ special operations group) and a dog unit trained for search work. La Vanguardia reported that the Mossos d’Esquadra (Catalonia’s police) have worked alongside the firefighters since the night.
The helicopter was added on Sunday morning, after the overnight search with drones and dogs had not found the boy.
Why it matters for people who hike in Catalonia
The pass where the boy went missing sits on a busy route used by walkers and cyclists, in an area where groups regularly cross the Albera on foot. A search like this one brings together the Bombers’ specialist units, the Mossos and air support, and this one has run without a break since Saturday night. In their post, the Bombers listed the GRAE and the GRCR, the unit that brings the search dogs, among the teams sent to the Coll de Banyuls-Rabós, so the boy’s family and the scout group are waiting on several specialist crews at once.
What is known so far
- The boy is 13, according to La Vanguardia, and was on an outing with a scout group.
- He went missing near the Coll de Banyuls-Rabós, on a route between Portbou and Espolla.
- The search began on Saturday night and continued through the night.
- Bombers ground crews, drones, the GRAE and a dog unit are taking part, along with the Mossos d’Esquadra.
- A helicopter joined on Sunday morning.
La Vanguardia said it would expand its report as the operation goes on. The Bombers have been posting updates on the search on their official account.
Sources: El Caso, La Vanguardia
