Man lost for 4 days gets by on kindness of Londoners
BRITAIN
A ROMANIAN tourist lost for four days in London survived through the kindness of strangers, according to his family.
Vasile Belea, 63, was visiting his son in the city when he disappeared at Stockwell underground station in Lambeth, South London, last Wednesday morning. He was separated from his son when the train doors closed, leaving him with no money on his Oyster travel card, no working phone and only £20 in his pocket.
Unable to speak English, he twice tried and failed to tell police he was lost. He was found in Southall, about 20 kilometres to the west, on Friday evening. Belea saw someone reading a newspaper article about his disappearance after a city-wide appeal and police were contacted.
According to his daughter-inlaw, he had covered several kilometres during his four-day misadventure, wandering around shops and walking through the nights to keep warm and to keep his arthritis at bay.
He spent one evening at a betting shop and another in an Indian restaurant, she said.
Olimpia Belea told reporters: ‘‘He bought milk and sandwiches, being very careful with his money. On the last evening at an Indian restaurant he was given five sandwiches.
‘‘He was so thrifty with his resources that he didn’t eat them all, and when we finally found him he still had two left that we ate together.’’
He still had £3 in his pocket when he was found. ‘‘People helped him,’’ Olimpia Belea said. ‘‘He said, ‘I love London – everyone is very kind.’ ’’
Belea had gone for a visit to London to spend Christmas with his son Ciprian.