Since his rescue, the circumstances surrounding the accident have been reconstructed: on his way home from a night out at a club in nearby Tönning, a tipsy Hansen lost control of his vehicle and collided with a traffic sign. It was a miracle that he remained uninjured but he soon realised that he was stranded on a traffic island. Dog units and helicopters searched the area for Hansen for two weeks until he was finally declared dead.
Hansen before his disappearance |
At least the mopedwreck survivor did not go hungry: “I mainly lived on snails and insects – luckily, they were quite plentiful on the traffic island”, Hansen says. He also managed to kill the occasional passing badger or hedgehog with his improvised spear.
The German Road Search and Rescue Service blames politicians for Hansen’s dire fate, albeit indirectly. The organisation, which deals with traffic emergencies, has long demanded that traffic islands be equipped with flare pistols and reflective vests. If need be, the vests could help physically fit vehicle-wreck victims to cross some narrower roads on foot.
ssi; first published 2017-05-05
Read the German version HERE.