Stuff Digital Edition

Missing patient falls into theatre

A German pensioner who went missing for 12 hours from a medical clinic was discovered when he crashed through the ceiling of the surgery wing.

The 75-year-old man, named only as Kurt K, had been taken to hospital in Heidelberg, southwest Germany, where he was fitted with a neck brace for a spinal injury.

He disappeared on Tuesday evening, triggering a search by hospital staff and police officers, according to the local force.

He appears to have become lost in the building’s catacombs, before climbing a ladder into the supply shafts about 10 metres up. He is thought to have remained there between the floors throughout the night, police said.

As staff combed the hospital in search of the ‘‘disorientated’’ patient, police checked his home and launched a search across the medieval city using tracker dogs. A police boat was used to search a nearby river, while taxis and staff in the public transport system were asked to keep an eye out for him.

The police said the case was solved about noon on Wednesday when a ceiling gave way under the man’s weight. He had been lying in a space above the operating theatres and fell into an adjoining room.

World

en-nz

2022-05-28T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-05-28T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://fairfaxmedia.pressreader.com/article/281840057291755

Stuff Limited