Dutch tourist 'miraculously' rescued after being lost for 19 days in ravine in Spain

London, July 7(ANI): A tourist missing for 19 days while on a walking holiday in Spain has been found alive at the bottom of a ravine in what rescuers described as "a true miracle".

Mary-Anne Goossens, a 48-year-old Dutch mother of two, was spotted by a group of hikers on Wednesday nearly three weeks after she set off on a hike alone during a holiday to Andalusia.

She survived without food or shelter in a ravine near the source of the Chillar river by drinking water from its banks, The Sun reports.

Describing herself as "weak and hungry", she amazed rescuers by walking from the helicopter into the emergency unit of the nearby Comarcal de la Axarquia.

The hospital said that all her vital signs were normal.

Meanwhile, a spokesman for the Andalusia mountain rescue team said that her condition was a miracle.

"It was a difficult rescue as she was in a hard-to-reach-area. That she was in such good shape and could even walk after surviving such an ordeal is a true miracle," the spokesman said.

Details of the 19 days for which Goossens was missing are still sketchy, but a family friend said that she had become lost in the mountains after straying off the path.

"We don't have all the details yet, but it seems that she got lost after spending a day hiking in a beautiful natural area. It got dark very quickly and she kept walking and walking hoping to find a village," the friend said.

"She spent a couple of days walking and then became so weak she couldn't walk any more and decided it was best to stay near water and hope that someone would find her soon," the friend added. (ANI)