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Group of 24 schoolchildren missing doing their Duke of Edinburgh award found in the Brecon Beacons

Search teams located the missing group who had disappeared in the mountainous area

Brecon Beacons

The 24 children lost in the Brecon Beacons have been found.

Search teams located the missing group who had disappeared in the mountainous area in Wales amid atrocious rain and wind this afternoon.

 Mountain rescue men with a flare help guide a Coastguard helicopter to its landing site at Tafarn y Gerreg in Powys, Wales
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Mountain rescue men with a flare help guide a Coastguard helicopter to its landing site at Tafarn y Gerreg in Powys, WalesCredit: Athena Picture Agency Ltd
 A Coastguard helicopter lands in a field to rescue the children who went missing this afternoon
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A Coastguard helicopter lands in a field to rescue the children who went missing this afternoonCredit: Athena Picture Agency Ltd
 The school pupils went missing in the Welsh Brecon Beacons
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The school pupils went missing in the Welsh Brecon BeaconsCredit: Alamy
 A map of the area where the children went missing
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A map of the area where the children went missingCredit: Sun Graphics

Rescuers are now leading the children to safety.

They were reported to be wet and cold but not seriously harmed by their ordeal.

Pub landlord Andy Maglaras said some of the children had been found and were on their way down.

Mr Maglaras said: "I think they found 14 kids and are bringing them down to the pub.

"A member of the rescue team asked if they could bring them here to get warm.

"There's about 10 rescue people over the road. The car park is full and a helicopter landed in a field behind me."

Dan yr Ogof is a popular caving site attracting thousands of tourists, cavers, and school trips every year.

The teenagers, from England, were on the beacons on a Duke of Edinburgh awards trip.

An alarm was raised at 1pm after the teens failed to meet up with an instructor.

Rescuers were in a race against time as rainy and cloudy weather looks set to turn into worse storms.

The children were in four groups of six children who are not accompanied by an adult as part of an orienteering exercise.

Rescue teams had "intermittent" telephone contact but the signal in the mountains is unreliable.

Two of the school children are believed to be suffering from hypothermia.

The search consisted of three mountain rescue teams and police around Tafarn Y Garreg, near Abercraf.

The Coastguard helicopter from RAF St Athan was also been sent to help.

 Helicopter rescue teams, police and coastguards are desperately searched for the 24 children who got lost in bad weather
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Helicopter rescue teams, police and coastguards are desperately searched for the 24 children who got lost in bad weatherCredit: Wales News Service
 The pupils, all high school pupils from England, were in the Brecon Beacons, Mid Wales, as part of a Duke of Edinburgh award
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The pupils, all high school pupils from England, were in the Brecon Beacons, Mid Wales, as part of a Duke of Edinburgh awardCredit: Wales News Service

Early fears the children were trapped in caves were dismissed.

Mark Jones of Brecon Mountain Rescue said: "I can confirm that three South Wales mountain rescue teams have been called to search for a group of 20 missing school children in the Dan yr Ogof area.

"A recent update from incident control has advised that the MCGA rescue helicopter from St Athan has spotted the group and is unable to land but that mountain rescue volunteers are making their way to the site on foot."

An athletics competition for high school students in South Wales which was to be held in Brecon today was cancelled at the last minute amid fears of torrential rain in the area.


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