Police on Saturday used a helicopter to scan the bed of the River Senne in search of the missing 21-year-old, Frederik Vanclooster. The young man has been missing since the night of 31 December to 1 January.
Yesterday Brussels fire service searched a stretch of the Brussels-Scheldt canal. They then announced that the search of the canal, using a sonar boat and diving team, would be suspended until Tuesday.
But today the police were out on the Senne, the river that runs underground through Brussels, searching with a helicopter a stretch from Vilvoorde to the Zennegat in Mechelen, where the river joins the Dijle.
“[The halt on Friday] doesn’t mean we couldn’t do other things in the meantime,” said Alain Remue, head of the police’s missing persons unit. “One of those things was the search of the bed of the Senne. The weather was perfect for it. Sadly it didn’t produce any results.”
The Brussels fire brigade continued its search of the canal in the morning, contrary to what had been announced the day before, but instead of searching the Brussels section, looked at the section between the Kruitfabriek leisure complex in Vilvoorde and the viaduct, a distance of about 600m.
“They had an exercise planned, and instead of holding it in Brussels, suggested doing it on the canal, to help with the search,” Remue said. “”We were happy to accept. But that also produced no result, so this time it seems we will wait until Tuesday. In the meantime we’re asking anyone who walks beside the canal and spots something to let the police and emergency services know.”
Alan Hope
The Brussels Times
