Search efforts for missing British TV doctor Michael Mosley have finished for another day on the Greek Island of Symi as his wife vows to “not lose hope”.
Volunteers and emergency workers continued to search a treacherous mountainous part of the island on Saturday after the 67-year-old TV personality disappeared during a walk on Wednesday.
His wife, Dr Clare Bailey Mosley, said the days since he has been missing have been the “longest and most unbearable days” for her and her children.
Emergency crews called off the search on Saturday evening as night fell due to the mountainous area they have been searching being too dangerous to explore at night, but it is due to resume on Sunday morning.
Greek authorities shifted their focus to the area after CCTV footage from a house at the edge of a small marina in the village of Pedi showed the presenter walking towards a mountainous path at about 2pm local time on Wednesday.
New footage released on Saturday also appears to show Mosley walking unimpeded with an umbrella near to the marina.
Mosley’s four children have joined their mother on Symi to help with the search efforts.
In a statement shared on Saturday, his wife said: “It has been three days since Michael left the beach to go for a walk. The longest and most unbearable days for myself and my children.
“The search is ongoing and our family are so incredibly grateful to the people of Symi, the Greek authorities and the British Consulate who are working tirelessly to help find Michael.
“We will not lose hope”
The mayor of Symi, Eleftherios Papakaloudoukas, has vowed to continue the extensive search operation – which has involved police, firefighters with drones, Greek Red Cross workers, divers, a search dog and a helicopter operating in dangerous conditions and high temperatures – until he is found.
The mayor said the area where Mosley is believed to have travelled through is “difficult to pass” and is “only rocks”, as well as being populated by “loads” of snakes.
Speaking through a translator, the mayor of 22 years questioned how anyone could survive in the heat that topped 40C on the day Mosley disappeared.
Mr Papakaloudoukas said he hoped Mosley would be found “safe and alive”, adding: “All the community is so sad about this, (it has) never happened before.”
Firefighters started scouring a 6.5km (four-mile) radius over a mountainous area that is surrounded by sea on at 6am on Saturday.
The team of emergency workers were forced to split up to cover the vast expanses of steep rocky terrain on their own, as well as using a drone to search the area.
One uniformed worker said there were 10 of them searching multiple summits because it was too dangerous for large crews to work during the summer months.
Firefighter Stergos Giakoumakis said from near one of the peaks: “It’s not so easy to bring here 100 people, especially this period, because it’s the most dangerous period.
“Everything is dry and it is too dangerous for firemen to search.”
Firefighters were seen using umbrellas to protect themselves as there is no shade or path near the top of the hill that sits between Pedi bay and Agia Marina, where they suspect Mosley may have walked.
Dead grass juts out between rocks and large boulders, and the only living vegetation is a few small shrubs.
An emergency helicopter was seen flying over Pedi bay towards the mountainous terrain where the hunt for Mosley was being carried out around 3.20pm local time.
On Friday, the mayor’s daughter Mika Papakalodouka told the PA news agency that “a lot of” island residents had joined the search using their own boats to find the British national.
“It is a small island, people talk. We’re good people actually here. Everybody is looking for him,” the 20-year-old told PA.
“It’s such a small island to get lost on. It’s so weird for us. Everybody is worried and looking for him.”
A woman reported seeing Mosley, known for popularising the 5:2 diet and for his appearances on The One Show and This Morning, in the Pedi area on Wednesday.
A local Facebook group said Mosley went for a walk from Saint Nikolas beach at about 1.30pm Greek time (11.30am BST) on Wednesday.
