Large scale operation: children safe and sound at home | Free press

After an almost ten-hour search for several children in Olbernhau, the police gave the all-clear on Saturday afternoon. The girls are safe at home with their parents.

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A car driver noticed several children on a wooden bench in the Saigerhüttenstrasse / Heidenweg area around 2:40 a.m. When the woman spoke to her, the children ran away to the Rungstock forest in the direction of the Rothenthal district of Olbernhau and lost a blanket with horse motifs. The police issued a request for a witness with a picture of this blanket, and it also spread on social networks. The Olbernhauer fire brigade also distributed a picture of the ceiling.

The woman described an approximately twelve-year-old, a ten-year-old and a younger child whom she had seen to the local officials. One of the older children is said to have been a girl with blond, curly hair who was dressed in light-colored pajamas.

The police then initiated extensive search measures in the area right into the forest. The officers received support from the federal police, local fire brigades and several rescue dog squadrons of the Association of Saxon Rescue Dogs with 18 area search dogs and 49 emergency services. At the same time, officials checked various addresses and locations. They interviewed residents in Olbernhau and the surrounding area, but no one missed children. Because of the proximity to the border, the Czech police were also involved, but they too had no reports or notifications about missing children.

At around 12.15 p.m., the search measures in Olbernhau were initially unsuccessful because the emergency services could not obtain any further information about three missing children. Regardless, the investigation continued, the police said.

The Olbernhau, Oberneuschönberg and Rothenthal fire brigades with a total of 28 men were also deployed to support the search from 8.45 a.m. As Steffen Kliem, head of the Olbernhau fire brigade, said, the drone, which is part of the equipment of the command vehicle, was used near the gas compressor station. In addition to a conventional camera, this is also equipped with a thermal imaging camera. The comrades then flew for about 30 minutes and searched for heat sources in the area between the extended Dörfelweg, Königsweg and the Rothenthal location. Unsuccessful, as Steffen Kliem said. The search by drone was made more difficult by fog or clouds. At the same time as the drone was deployed, comrades from the Oberneuschönberg and Rothenthal district brigades drove their vehicles along forest paths, looking for the children there. The firefighters walked around areas that were impassable due to snow and fallen trees. “We coordinated this with the rescue dog handlers who were on duty,” said Kliem.

Finally, around 2:45 p.m., the mother of a 13-year-old reported to the Marienberg police station. She stated that the blanket belonged to her daughter. The 13-year-old admitted that she was out and about in that area in Olbernhau at night with three other girls between the ages of 13 and 14. The girls should be interviewed and conversations with them. (with bz)

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