Elderly man missing from home found alive

A 76-year-old man who disappeared on Friday from his home in the municipality of Oliveira do Hospital in the district of Coimbra was found lying in a ravine in the area.

Despite a few bruises, he was conscious and oriented. As a precaution, he was sent under observation to the infirmary in Seiya, where his family members are staying.

This Saturday, the search was reinforced by two dozen binomial operatives from the GNR, firefighters and the Municipal Civil Protection of the Hospital of Oliveira do Hospital, who maneuvered the drone.

Despite the unsuccessful searches during the day, at night the GNR used a drone using thermal imaging sensors. “It was this device, operated by the GNR Emergency Protection and Assistance Unit, that identified the elderly person. Around 23:00, shortly after the start of the flight,” Forward Captain Sandro Soares of GNR Coimbra Command.

“The victim was fifty meters from the road, lying on a site with a large slope, covered and stuck in dense vegetation, which had to be cut to get to the elderly person and remove him from the scene,” the officer added.

“He had minor abrasions and was frightened, but was conscious and guided, monitored and taken to the health center in Seiya as a precaution,” a GNR spokesman said.

The elderly man left the apartment block on Friday afternoon as usual, but did not return for dinner. For this reason, the staff of the house went in search of him through the streets of the city. They went to the park, garden and cafe where the old man went every day.

Due to the lack of traces of the man, an alarm was received by the GNR, which on Friday night began searches with the support of firefighters, which were intensified during the Saturday afternoon, followed by a check by the Municipal Civil Protection Service using a drone.

More than two dozen people were involved in searches dispersed along the streets of the city, as well as in the fields and adjacent forests.