AFP/Archiv
Police spokesman: Hypothermic but no danger to life
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Happy end to the search for eight-year-old Julia: the girl from Greater Berlin, who went missing in the border area between Bavaria and the Czech Republic, was found alive in the Czech Republic, the Upper Palatinate police headquarters reported in Regensburg on Tuesday. “She is hypothermic, but there is no danger to her life,” a police spokesman said.
Julia’s disappearance had moved people in the area around Mount Cerchovs – in German Schwarzkopf – since Sunday. Some 1400 emergency personnel had been searching for the schoolgirl since her parents reported her missing, and the search continued intensively through the nights of Monday and Tuesday. According to the Bavarian police, forest workers or foresters discovered the severely hypothermic but uninjured girl. Julia is now to be observed in hospital, her parents are said to be on their way to see her.
The parents had climbed to the top of Mount Cerchov with Julia, her brother and a cousin on Sunday. On the descent, the children had gone ahead on their own and probably got lost. While the two boys were found again on Sunday evening, Julia was considered missing until Tuesday. Police spokesman Florian Beck said of the search operation: “It is unbelievable how much sympathy has taken place here.”
After Julia was still considered missing on Tuesday morning, police had said the situation was increasingly life-threatening. The area, with its jagged cliffs and expansive, obscure wooded area, held much danger for the child given the chilly weather. In addition to hypothermia, there was also concern that Julia may have fallen.
Police deployed 115 paging dogs and area search dogs in Bavaria and the Czech Republic. Off-road vehicles were also involved in the search, as well as helicopters. Bavarian police also ordered the Alpine Einsatzgruppe from the Alps to the low mountain range to search the rough terrain.
by Ina FASSBENDER