Dubai: An elderly German tourist who had an episode of memory loss after reaching the airport — could not remember where he had come from or was going.
It was only after his family emailed the Dubai Police that they figured out how to best help the man return to his country, Gulf News learnt on Thursday.
Colonel Dr Mubarak Saeed Salim, director of Tourist Police Department, said that they helped the tourist return to Germany after he completely forgot the location of his family back home.
“He came to Dubai with a tourist group and at the end of the last day, he was on a boat trip, after which he hailed a taxi near Port Rashid and asked to be taken to Dubai International Airport. When he reached the airport, however, he could not figure out where he was supposed to go and why he was in the airport,” Colonel Salim said.
The elderly tourist then left his bags in the airport and took a taxi asking the driver to take him to any place near the sea.
The taxi driver took him to Jumeirah Beach and left him there. The tourist sat beside the sea trying to remember where he should go next.
“A police patrol spotted the man sitting on the beach looking lost and confused and an officer spoke with him. The tourist told the officer that he didn’t have a clue about what he wanted. The officer then took him to the Bur Dubai police station in order to resolve the problem,” Colonel Salim added.
Coincidentally, his family in Germany emailed Dubai Police at that time informing them about an elderly German tourist lost in Dubai. They said that they had been waiting for him at the airport but he had not arrived.
“[Since] his family couldn’t communicate with him, they decided to send us an email with his photograph,” Colonel Salim said.
Dubai Police then coordinated with his family and the travel agency that had brought the tourist to Dubai to help him get back to Germany. “We helped the man to return to his country after identifying him in the picture.”
