A tourist stranded in the dark in North Sea has been rescued after flashes from his camera were spotted on a beach webcam 350 miles away
A tourist stranded in the dark in North Sea has been rescued after flashes from his camera were spotted on a beach webcam 350 miles away
ADVERTISEMENT
 |
|
Net gain: A photo taken from the webcam of an Internet page shows the beach of St Peter-Ording yesterday. Pic/AP |
Disoriented tourist
The man had climbed over pack ice off the coast to photograph a sunset near the town of St Peter-Ording before becoming disoriented, said Kristin Stielow, a Husum police spokeswoman.
Unable to locate the beach, the man began using his camera to flash for help -- and that caught the attention of a woman in southern Germany, some 350 miles away, as she watched the sunset on her computer.
The woman contacted police, who located the man's signals and guided him back to the shore by flashing their car lights.
Police vould not identify the man, who they later lectured on the dangers of trekking on the ice, or the woman who had seen him. Stielow said that the man was a German tourist in his 40s.
She said locals are well aware of the risk of disorientation as darkness falls and the beach becomes hard to identify, but added that vivid sunsets over frozen landscapes often drew people away from the shore.
He could die
"At the time the man lost his bearings the air temperature was below freezing and he could have frozen to death,"u00a0 added Stielow.
St Peter-Ording, a popular tourist destination known for its beachesu00a0 and the local tourism board runs a website featuring a webcam. The board, however, said images from the webcam were routinely deleted and the flashes from the man's camera had not been saved before the story came to light.
"Exciting news! Mid-day is now on WhatsApp Channels 
Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!
Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!
