Rescue teams search for French boy, 14, who went missing while hiking with family in Bali

Rescue teams are searching for a French teenager who went missing after falling down a mountainside in Indonesia.

Thomas Stein, 14, was trekking with his father and brother when he tumbled down the side of the steep trail on Mount Batukaru in the Tabanan Regency of Bali on August 25.

The youngster was separated from his family and search and rescue teams were racing to find his whereabouts. The other relatives returned to a driver, Gusti Ngurah Kusum Putra, 32, who was waiting at the foot of the mountain for them to return.

They then alerted the emergency services.

Nyoman Sidakarya, head of the Denpasar Search and Rescue Office, on August 27 said: 'One of the group managed to save himself by following the river until he arrived in Blimbing Village in Tabanan. When they fell, they were separated and one person managed to survive. We just received the report Monday afternoon.

'The tourist who survived said they were able to communicate with the missing person until his voice could no longer be heard.'

A joint team of police, rescue officers, sniffer dogs, and villagers were still scouring the mountain hoping to find the youngster, believed to be at an altitude of 5,250 feet (1,600 metres) above sea level.

However, high winds and poor weather were impeding the operation.

Authorities have urged tourists to always bring local guides who are familiar with the terrain when hiking.

On July 28, a French tourist died while fishing off a beach in Lampung province.

Leo Bauthamy, 25, told his friends he was going bowfishing using spear-like arrows at Walur Beach, but was washed away from the shore by rough waves. His lifeless corpse was found drifting off the coast a day later.

While on July 2, British backpackers Matthew Forster, 22, and Andrew Forster, 18, went missing while trekking up Mount Agung, in Bali.

Local rescue teams launched a mass search with officials fearing the lads would be unable to survive on the treacherous route without a guide.

They were finally found at around 6 pm local on July 4 - more than 40 hours after they set off.