Man who accidentally dropped his phone in a river finds it eight months later

BEIJING: A Chinese man who accidentally dropped his mobile phone into a river has miraculously got the handset back eight months later in perfect working condition.

The tourist, Zhou, lost his smartphone when he was catching fish with his friend on a turbulent river in China last September.

Mr Zhou, who had forgotten about the matter, recently received a phone call from a fisherman who had spotted his mobile phone after the water levels dropped. He found Mr Zhou’s number on a business card inside the phone case.

The man was surprised to find the handset was not damaged despite being soaked in the water for more than half a year.

Recalling the matter, Mr Zhou said that he did not even notice the missing handset until he returned to the riverbank later.

‘I thought I could never find it. It was in the water, and the river was quite turbulent,’ he added.

Mr Zhou initially thought the call was a scam: ‘I was thinking how is that possible. I’m holding my phone to talk to you right now.’

The random phone call was from a local fisherman, known by his surname Liu, who spotted Mr Zhou’s mobile device in the river after the water levels dropped.

Mr Liu was able to get in touch with the tourist after finding his business card tucked in the phone case.

Mr Zhou was surprised to find his smartphone – returned by Mr Liu through a parcel – functioning well after the ordeal.

He was able to retrieve pictures taken during his canoeing trip from the phone he thought he would never find again.

I never thought I’d find [the phone] again,’ the tourist said in a social media post after retrieving the handset.