Lost Mauna Loa Hikers Rescued

Rescuers from the county and the US Army’s Pohakuloa Training Area assisted a group of hikers who had become lost while descending from the summit of Mauna Loa Saturday night.

A Hawaii Fire Department spokesman said five of the six members of the group used a cell phone to call for help around 5:30 p.m., saying they had lost their way on the hike down to the Mauna Loa observatory.

A sixth member of the group managed to find his way down on his own.

The department’s rescue helicopter Chopper 1 was able to locate the five remaining hikers above the observatory but was unable to land because of darkness and rough ground.

A team of HFD and PTA personnel located the lost hikers with the help of PTA “brush trucks,” a combination all-terrain vehicle for firefighting and rescues and escorted them to the observatory.

The lost hikers, described as four men and a woman in their early 40s to mid-50s, refused medical treatment.