Hiker missing on Saba: STIS 978 called in to assist
At the request of the Governor of Saba, two dog-handler teams from STIS 978 in Saint Martin were dispatched on Saturday morning to assist in the search for Erik Matthijsen, a 53-year-old Dutch man who has been missing since 13 May.
An avid hiker, Erik Matthijsen was last seen last Wednesday at around 11am as he set off on a walk in the Well’s Bay area, in the north-west of the island. After two days of fruitless searching, the authorities on Saba called in dog handlers from Saint Martin, who arrived on the island on Saturday morning to join the search operations immediately. These operations also involved helicopters, drones and thermal imaging cameras used during night-time searches. The authorities also attempted to locate the missing man’s mobile phone. On Sunday evening, during the crisis meeting, the search teams indicated that, given the time that had elapsed, the chances of finding him alive were slim. However, the search resumed on Monday morning with the arrival of a new team from USAR (specialising in search and rescue, deployed during natural disasters or missing persons cases worldwide), comprising eleven people and nine dogs. Erik Matthijsen was also a member of USAR.NL and was on the island as part of the Mount Scenery Tower project. This deployment illustrates the quality of operational cooperation and mutual assistance between France and the Netherlands in managing emergency situations in the Caribbean.
