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Auxiliary and search staff in Oberellenbach
Photo: Jacob Schröter / dpa
Happy end to a large-scale search operation: Police and rescue workers in Hesse had been searching for a missing little boy with a large number since Sunday afternoon. According to reports, the two-year-old escaped from his father during a walk in the forest in Oberellenbach. "The man looked around for a moment and when he looked back at his son, he had disappeared," said a police spokesman in Fulda.
Two-year-old Georg had been wanted since shortly before 5 p.m. Shortly before midnight, after almost seven hours, the all-clear came: the child was found slightly hypothermic, soaked but unharmed. A police spokesman said he was discovered at around 11:30 p.m. near a country road between Sterkelshausen and the Beenhausen junction (Hersfeld-Rotenburg district). After a medical examination, he was handed over to his parents. No further details about his condition were released.
Hundreds of people searching in the forest area
The police were on the move with drones, thermal imaging cameras and night cameras. Search dogs were also used to find the child. A helicopter called off the search because a bad weather front was approaching. "We'll keep looking until we get him," said a police spokesman, according to the dpa news agency.
Around 100 rescue workers from the fire department alone were involved in the search. There were also around 120 police and aid organizations, including an air force and several dog squads. According to the police, numerous citizens were also looking for the boy. The German Life Saving Society is also taking part.
There are also streams in the forest area, although they are smaller watercourses, he said. Oberellenbach is a small district of the eastern Hesse municipality of Alheim with a few hundred inhabitants.
jok/dpa