OSLO - A young Chinese man, who got lost in the mountains on the way up to Peikestolen in southwest Norway earlier on Friday, has been found and saved in a prompt search operation.

A search team heard cries at 21:30 local time (2030 GMT) and located the 21-year-old man 20 minutes later, said the Norwegian-language newspaper Aftenposten in a dispatch on its website.

The man, whose condition was described as "safe and sound", was expected to be taken first to Preikestolhytta, and from there to Stavanger later.

A search operation was quickly launched after police were notified of the incident at 20:00 (1900 GMT).

The man, whose identity was not immediately known, called his friends at about 15:00 local time (1400 GMT), saying that he was lost on his way up to the famous tourist spot Preikestolen.

The man was last seen 2.5 km away from the parking place on the way up the Preikestolen.

He was with his two friends, who decided to return to Stavanger due to the bad weather, while he chose to continue the planned trip.

A storm was raging in the area and the bad weather condition was hindering the searchers, including several volunteers.

The man "is fairly scantily dressed and he has no food and drink with him," said Anatoly Bjoernsen, a police officer from the Norwegian county of Rogaland.