More fear than harm in this story, even though the emergency procedure could have been avoided. (Getty Images illustration)
After an hour of research, emergency services were finally told that the person had indeed returned home.
A misunderstanding that did not amuse the police authorities concerned at all. This Monday, July 18, essential rescue equipment was deployed on a beach in Ostend, Belgium, to locate a 72-year-old man believed to be missing in the North Sea. Probably only, because while the rescuers were looking for him, the person in question was actually staying comfortably at their home in Antwerp…
As reported by 7sur7.be, the seventy-year-old, who came to the beach alone, had decided to go swimming around 3 p.m. The pensioner therefore asked a person installed near him to look after his belongings while he went to cool off. When he got out of the water, however, he found neither his personal belongings nor the beach neighbor who was supposed to be guarding them.
Disoriented and disoriented by the current
Convinced that he had been robbed, the seventy-year-old left the crime scene without wasting any time and returned home with the help of passers-by. However, this was just a misdirection. “Undoubtedly shaken by the current”, according to Belgian media, the swimmer had actually emerged from the waves in the wrong place, which explains why he had not found his belongings, which were actually under guard, a few tens of meters further!
For his part, the beach neighbor who was in charge of supervising the business began to have serious concerns when he didn’t see the retiree’s return. He therefore rummaged through his personal belongings and found a telephone with which he could reach the seventy-year-old’s daughter. She then informed the police at around 8 p.m. to report her father’s disappearance.
After an intensive search, the police learn that the missing person has returned home
The sea rescue services immediately stepped in and dozens of police officers and rescue workers moved to the scene. But an hour later, when no leads had been found, police were finally told that the wanted person was at his home in Antwerp, “sitting peacefully in his chair”.
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“He thought his belongings had been stolen, confirms Timmy Van Assche, spokesman for the Ostend police, quoted by 7sur7.be. He should have informed us directly. And the person who kept the items should have called the emergency services sooner saved us having to start the emergency procedure.”
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