Jungle SOS saves German tourist

Mr Link survived solely on river water for six days

A German man lost in the Venezuelan jungle for nearly a week has been rescued by soldiers, who spotted the SOS sign he had traced into the sands of a riverbank.

The 50-year-old German doctor, Hans Juergen Link, had disappeared on 12 October while on a tourist expedition in the jungle of the Canaima National Park, located some 400 miles (650 km) southeast of the capital Caracas.

He had been travelling with several other German doctors and his daughter, but had become separated from the party when he went off to take some photographs.

Footprints found by the rescue mission during their search were the only indications that Mr Link was still alive.

SOS

More than two dozen loca people had taken part in the search party, their mission hindered by the heavy rains of the past week.

But on Tuesday, German consul Wilfried Eisenfeller and three members of the Venezuelan National Guard spotted an SOS message written in the sand near a river running through the Kavak jungle from a helicopter.

Mr Link, who had survived on river water since disappearing, was eventually found on a rock, and taken to the city of Puerto Ordaz, where he received medical treatment.

He is due to return to Aachen, Germany with his daughter on Friday.