Extreme explorer and influencer Ash Dykes was missing for 16 hours during his dangerous trip in the Congo River Basin, according to a post on his Instagram by one of his representatives in the early morning hours of Oct. 21. A few hours later another post gave a verdict: "We JUST received a message from Ash’s sat-phone/Garmin! EVERYONE IS SAFE!"
It continues, "The Starlink is out and their powerbank has died, there’s no way for them to send videos or updates, they can only send short messages whenever they get signal on the Garmin. That’s all we know right now. We will update you when we know more. Thank you for your prayers."
Dykes is on an expedition down the Sangha River through the Congo Basin in Central Africa. USA TODAY reached out to Dykes'
team for comment but did not immediately hear back.
The Welsh adventurer set out on this trek earlier this month as a part of his Project Six series, where he is attempting to do six extreme journeys back-to-back. Before he set out on the voyage, he teased it on social media with videos that garnered over 100 million views, saying he would be traveling through the "most dangerous rainforest on Earth."
The last time he updated his fans was on Oct. 20, when he shared what life in the rainforest has been like. "We have been chased by bees, we have stared silverbacks in the face, we have witnessed elephants — in fact, one pulled a tree down right next to camp," he continued. "We have come across hippos that have traipsed beside our camp. We've seen buffalo. We've been eaten alive by tsetse flies and mosquitoes, trying desperately to avoid dengue fever and malaria."
Dykes said that they've covered 70 to 80 kilometers a day (close to 50 miles). He ended the video by saying he's looking forward to the end of the journey so he can reveal the second location of his six expeditions.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Extreme explorer Ash Dykes went missing for 16 hours. Here's what happened
