Group Uses Turbans to Save Stranded Hikers

Canadian men praised for 'ingenious' rescue
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 20, 2021 7:30 PM CDT

Search and rescue authorities in Canada are praising some quick-thinking Sikh men who rescued two men stranded on a rock next to a fast-moving river above a waterfall. The five men tied their turbans and other items of clothing together to make a 33-foot rope and pull the men to safety, NBC reports. The stranded men had slipped down the rock and were unable to make their way out unaided. Kuljinder Kinda says he was hiking with four friends in Golden Ears Provincial Park near Vancouver, BC, last week when another group told them about the men's plight.

Kinda says the other group asked him to call 911, but there was no cellphone service in the area. The three members of his group who were wearing turbans unraveled them to form the makeshift rope. "In my Sikh culture, the turban is for that, to help save the life of people who need the help," Kuljinder Singh tells CTV. Ridge Meadows Search and Rescue manager Rick Laing praised the group for their "ingenious" solution. He says the two rescued men, who did not require medical treatment, said they hadn't seen warning signs about the hazards of approaching the waterfalls, which are behind a fenced area.

"I’ve never heard of anything like this before and it was quite impressive,” Laing says. He says that if the men had fallen into the water and been swept away, they would have had little chance of survival. "Several people are injured each year as a result of slips or falls,” he tells NBC. "It seems about once every one to two years, someone will be swept over the falls and die as a result of their injuries." (More Canada stories.)

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