If they were on a DofE expedition they will have been well equipped.
My daughter is off on her bronze expedition on Friday, we're packing tonight so she can take her rucksack to school tomorrow for a kit check.
The list is comprehensive, or from her point of view very heavy!
Glad all these youngsters have been found OK, reports so far suggest possibly a couple of cases of mild hypothermia.
Reports don't say what level DofE the kids were on, by the time they get to gold will have a reasonable amount of experience.
Even the best of navigators can get caught out at times though as we all know.