Los Angeles (AFP)
An old bus from the 1940s, which has become a place of pilgrimage to Alaska for adventurers from all over the world, especially since its appearance in Sean Penn's film "Into the wild", has been moved in order to protect adventurous hikers.
Nicknamed the "Magic bus", it was mentioned in the book from a true story "Journey to the End of Solitude" by Jon Krakauer (1996), and appeared on the poster of his adaptation to the cinema in 2007, telling the story journey of a young man seeking to flee civilization to get closer to nature.
Located at the end of the Stampede Trail, the bus ended up attracting more and more curious people, not always well prepared. Between 2009 and 2017, fifteen rescue operations related to the famous vehicle had to be organized, according to local authorities.
Some have even died, like travelers from Switzerland and Belarus, in 2010 and 2019, drowned during expeditions to see the "Magic bus".
On Thursday, he was moved from his remote wilderness by being lifted by an army helicopter, the National Guard said.
"After studying the problem closely, weighing many factors, and considering a variety of alternatives, we decided it was best to move the bus from this location," said Corri Feige, the commissioner responsible for natural resources. for the state of Alasaka, in the far northeast of the American continent.
It will be kept for the moment in a secure site, until it is decided what to do with it, she said. One of the options is to expose it.
© 2020 AFP