Wales mountain rescue teams find students lost in Brecon Beacons National Park

LONDON -- A group of schoolchildren who reportedly got lost walking in the mountains of the picturesque Brecon Beacons National Park has been found, the police said.

A police spokesman told the Reuters news agency that all 26 members of the group have been accounted for without injuries but were going to be checked at a hospital.

BBC Wales News first reported the story, saying mountain rescue teams were searching for four groups of young to mid-teens from England in the mountains.

The BBC said rescuers initially believed at least two of the students, who were in the mountains without adult guides, were suffering from hypothermia.

Mark Jones, of Brecon Mountain Rescue, told CBS News that three teams had been called to help search for the missing teens, and that a rescue helicopter had spotted at least some of the students, but was unable to land.

A local pub owner told Britain's ITV television network that more than half of the youngsters were being brought to his establishment.

"I think they found 14 kids and are bringing them down to the pub," Andy Maglaras told the network. "A member of the rescue team asked if they could bring them here to get warm... There's about 10 rescue people over the road. The car park is full and a helicopter landed in a field behind me."

The students were in the Beacons as part of the Duke of Edinburgh Award program, which aims to get British youth into outdoor pursuits, and bolster their credentials as they apply for places at universities.

The four groups were reported missing at about 1 p.m. local time (8 a.m. Eastern).