In 1971, Ho Van Thanh fled with his son, Ho Van Lang after a bombing struck his home in Tra Kem village and killed his wife and two of his other children.
Miraculously, Thanh, now 81, and Lang, now 42, survived in a jungle for over 40 years. Details emerged on Wednesday when locals finally caught glimpes of the two “jungle men” and local news outlets like Tuoitrenews.vn and Thanh Nien News.
Once locals made the strange discovery, they noted authorities who set up a tracking team. Five hours later, the two men were found.
The men were wearing loin cloths made up of tree bark and survived mainly on fruits like cassava, as well as manioc and even corn they planted.
Their shelter was what Than Nien described as looking like a bird’s nest that was mounted in a tree and was six metres from the ground.
Thanh’s other surviving son, Ho Van Tri, apparently discovered his father and brother some 20 years ago but couldn’t convince them to leave their jungle home in the provinces Tay Tra district.
Thanh and Lang also appear to have forgotten the mainstream Kinh language, but both can speak a few words of the minority Cor language.
Authorities will now try to re-integrate the two long-isolated men back into society.
