In 1972, Mr. Ho Van Lang was brought into the forest by his father, Ho Van Thanh, to avoid bomb attacks. They built a tree hut and lived separately from the villagers for over 40 years.

On September 6, officials of Tra Bong District in the central province of Quang Ngai paid a visit to Mr. Lang’s family in Tra Phong commune to offer their sympathy to the famiy and help them organize Mr. Lang's funeral.

Mr. Ho Van Lang passed away at his home at 6am on September 6 after months of fighting liver cancer.

"In early 2021, Mr. Lang suffered from severe pain in the abdomen. His relatives took him to a hospital in Quang Ngai city for examination, and he was diagnosed with liver cancer. When the Covid-19 epidemic broke out, he had to self-treat at home. The disease progressed so badly that he did not survive," said Secretary of the Party’s Committee of Tra Bong District Dang Minh Thao.

In 1972, Mr. Ho Van Lang was brought into the forest by his father, Ho Van Thanh, to avoid bomb attacks. They built a tree hut and lived separately from the villagers.

During more than 40 years of living separately from others in the forest, they only made friends with nature.

In 2013, local people discovered the two "forest men", so they reported them to the authorities so they could be taken back to the community. In 2017, the father passed away.

Mr. Lang lived with his younger brother's family in a charity house built by benefactors.

Every day, Mr. Lang went to the fields to grow bananas and rice, and to the forest to seek wild products for a living.

Cong Sang

Vietnamese jungle man still misses the wild life

Seven years after being taken from the forest, Ho Van Lang is still spending most of his time by the forest where he had lived for over 40 years with his father.