Rescuers from Tatra Volunteer Search and Rescue (TOPR) received information about a tourist in need of help. The man called to report he was experiencing acute shortness of breath. TOPR launched a search-and-rescue mission and began checking shelters, valleys, and asked a drone operator for help. The following day, the mission was called off as the tourist had sent a text message in which he asked not to bother him as he was sleeping.
At 2:30 a.m. on New Year's Eve night, rescuers from Tatra Volunteer Search and Rescue (TOPR) received information from a tourist in need of help, as he was experiencing acute shortness of breath. He called the 112 hotline, but did not reveal his location.
"According to GPS data, the man was somewhere in the Kalatówki-Regle area. The man wasn't answering calls. A patrol car was sent to Kalatówki, and checked that the man didn't spend the night there. They also checked Hala Kondratowa Mountain Hut. A drone operator and a phone-location specialist were called to TOPR headquarters. Teams of rescuers were dispatched to check the areas around Kuźnice, Kalatówki, Dolina Ku Górze, Dolina Strążyska, and Sarnia Skała. The search was ineffective," TOPR rescuers wrote in a chronicle at their website.
The search was in progress. It wasn't until 8:30 a.m. on January 2 that the rescue team received a text message from the man saying: "I'm sleeping, don't call". The operation was called off and the police were notified about the case.
"Unfortunately, people go missing in the Tatras quite often, but it also often turns out that someone has not informed their relatives about vacation plans, which causes many misunderstandings. However, we treat each call seriously and check it. Search-and-rescue operations in the mountains are treated equally as those in other regions and are free charge," Zakopane Police spokesman Roman Wieczorek said.
Źródło: TVN24 News in English, PAP, tvn24.pl
Źródło zdjęcia głównego: Shutterstock