All 17 people who went missing while picking mushrooms in the forest of Shuklaphanta National Park have been rescued safely.

17 women, including 14 from Bhimdatta Municipality-19 Bagphanta and Bedkot Municipality-10 Chatahari, and 3 from Beldandi Rural Municipality-2 Chauvanni, who went to pick mushrooms on Sunday morning, lost their way in the forest and went missing. All 9 elephants in the park were mobilized for the search, and surveillance was also carried out using drones.

Earlier, Manju Ranachhetri, Laxmi Thapa Magar and Sita Chaudhary from Beldandi Rural Municipality-2 Chavanni were rescued safely on Monday afternoon. Later, in the afternoon, 14 people from Bhimdatta Municipality-19 Bagphanta and Bedkot Municipality-10 Chatahari were also found by the rescue team and safely returned to their families. 35 Battalion Shaileshwori Ganapati Superintendent of Armed Police Prem Prakash Sigdel informed. 'All have been found safe. After necessary coordination and search, they have been brought out of the forest and sent home,' he said. Nepal Police, Armed Police, Nepal Army, Shuklaphanta National Park Administration and locals were mobilized to search for the missing under the coordination of Chief District Officer Madan Koirala.

Rescued Manju Ranachhetri said that she had to spend the night sitting on a tree after getting lost in the forest. 'While searching for mushrooms, we went deep into the forest without realizing it. We could not find a way back. Seeing that it would be more dangerous to walk after dusk, we climbed a Simal tree and spent the night. In the morning, when we got a signal on our mobile, we were able to call home. Then the rescue team came and brought us out safely,' she said.

Rescued Laxmi Thapa Magar said that she had to live in fear of wild animals all night. 'We could hear the sounds of animals all around. We were very scared. We stayed until morning, encouraging each other. After seeing the rescue team, we finally had hope of survival,' she said.

Sabita Chaudhary of Bagphanta, Bhimdatta Municipality-19, also said that after losing her way in the forest, everyone sat together and waited for rescue. 'We spent the night hungry. After it got light, we started looking for a house again. When we got close to our house, we felt relieved when we found the rescue team,' she said.

The 14 rescued people are Sakani Chaudhary, 57, Sabita Chaudhary, 60, Sani Chaudhary, 60, Sakiya Chaudhary, 50, Rama Chaudhary, 30, Laxmi Chaudhary, 29, Manisha Chaudhary, 28, Rita Chaudhary, 30, Sunita Chaudhary, 28, Bimala Agri, 30, Sumitra Sunar, 35, Shanti Sunar, 30, Pratiksha Sunar and 70, Siwani Sunar.