Update | British explorer in search of lost tribe of headhunters ‘found safe and well’ in Papua New Guinea
Benedict Allen was expected to give talk in Hong Kong and had not been heard from for three weeks
A British explorer who was reported missing in the remote jungles of Papua New Guinea during a mission to find a lost tribe of headhunters has been found safe and well, according to reports in the British media.
Benedict Allen, 57, who had not been heard from for three weeks – and had been scheduled to give a talk on Wednesday at the Hong Kong branch of the Royal Geographic Society – has asked for a rescue party to be sent to pick him up.
The news came after the BBC’s security correspondent, Frank Gardner – who sought to publicise the 57-year-old’s disappearance after he missed a planned flight home via Hong Kong – tweeted that his friend had been sighted.
Gardner said: “ … UK explorer @benedictallen has been sighted, ‘alive and well’ nr airstrip in Papua New Guinea after being reported missing while trekking”.
Allen’s agent, Joanna Sarsby, based in Bristol in the UK said: “Keith Copley, the coordinating director for New Tribe Mission in Papua New Guinea has confirmed Benedict Allen is safe and well, and located at a remote airstrip 20 miles northwest of Porgera, Enga Province. Confirmation on his exact location coordinates are now being confirmed to arrange evacuation.”
Officials from the society in Hong Kong have still not responded to requests for an interview about Allen’s disappearance and reported reappearance. A notice advertising the talk on the society’s website said: “Please note this talk has been rescheduled to next year.”