An eight-year-old boy who had been missing for a week has been found alive in a sewer.
Joe – no surname has yet been released by authorities – vanished on June 17 in Germany.
Officials launched a huge search across the country with local hunting associations and volunteers involved.
On Saturday, a 43-year-old member of the public heard ‘quiet whimpering’ from a sewer and alerted the police.
Emergency services rushed to the scene and removed a manhole at the sewer’s entrance.
Shivering in knee high water, Joe weakly peered up at them.
A fireman climbed into the sewer to hoist the boy to safety before the child was rushed to hospital.
An eyewitness told local media: ‘I saw how the boy was carefully pulled out of the hole, a helper calmed him down.
‘He looked unharmed. I can’t believe he was in there and alive!’
An unnamed neighbour added: ‘It was very fortunate that he was heard – a lot of cars pass through here and the noise level is higher there.’
The sewer is located just 20 metres from Joe’s parents’ house in Donnerschwee, a district in the north-west city of Oldenburg.
A police investigation is ongoing into whether the schoolboy accidentally got stuck or was put there deliberately.
This week, a robot equipped with a camera has been lowered to help trace a potential way the eight-year-old might have entered the sewer system.
Joe will be interviewed by detectives in the coming days after he has recovered physically from the incident.
He was said to be hypothermic, but responsive when released from the sewer.
Police said he had no major injuries and there was no danger to life.
Officers are still investigating how it was possible for Joe, who reportedly suffers from a slight mental development disorder, to survive for so long down the storm drain.
Retired emergency doctor Peter Sefrin, 81, is quoted in local media as saying: ‘At these temperatures, the heat is an important factor.
‘But in the canal it is naturally cooler. Humans can survive a good three days without water and food. That’s no problem.’
He added: ‘We know that people who were buried survived in caves from dripping condensation water. Maybe that was the case here too.’
Police chief Johann Kuehme added: ‘Thanks to a tip from the public, we were able to find Joe in a sewer system today.
‘The most important thing is that he is alive and was immediately taken to a hospital where he is in good hands. We can all breathe a sigh of relief.’
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