FIFTY-SIX local backpackers were rescued by police early Sunday morning after getting lost on a mountain between Shenzhen and Huizhou.

They were all evacuated safely from the Stone River Mountain after a four-hour rescue effort by a force deployed jointly by the two cities.

Most hikers were dehydrated after at least seven hours and suffered minor wounds when rescued, but none of them needed hospitalization.

The 56 hikers met at a hotel in Nanshan District on Saturday morning after seeing the event advertised online. They arrived at the site bordering Longgang District and Huizhou City at 10 a.m. and were expected to finish their expedition at 6 p.m. before sunset.

Despite verbal warnings from the mountain's administrator, the group decided to carry out their hike. An experienced hiker surnamed Li even left the group to look for a route during the middle of the journey.

"Only 11 of the 56 hikers were male, and our female colleagues were dehydrated and this held up the journey," said rescued hiker surnamed Xia, the organizer of the event.

He said the steep mountain was also beyond their expectations.

"We couldn't see the original route or any leading to the exit at 6 p.m., and decided to call the police for help," he said.

However, none of the hikers could tell the police their exact location.

The district's public security bureau sent out a 108-strong rescue team to the mountain and requested reinforcements from Huizhou City.

Xia said he had recommended colleagues to leave the mountain during the journey, but "most of them wanted to finish the whole climb and eventually got lost."

Gan Yongmin, a lawyer from the Guangdong Chenggong Law Firm, said hike organizers were responsible for any possible losses or injuries during the trip even if they weren't profiting from it.

Editor: Yan