Police in Seychelles searching for missing German national on La Digue Island.

Logo of Seychelles Police Force (Seychelles Police Force)

The police in Seychelles have started a search operation for a German national missing since Wednesday on the island nation's third-most populated island of La Digue.  

A police communiqué said that Helmut Klaus – Peter Bokemuler went missing in the mountainous area at Belle Vue. The 68 year-old along with his companion and three other Germans had gone walking in the area.

“According to last report, a search conducted on Wednesday had to stop late at night and resumed on Thursday morning but until now the man has not been found,” said the communiqué.

(Seychelles Police Force) Photo License: CC-BY

Helmut Klaus – Peter Bokemuler was staying at the Patatran hotel at Anse Patate in the north of the island.

The authority had deployed a search party comprising of the police officers and rescue officers assisted by helicopters to search for the man.

This is the third incident in two years where German nationals visiting the island nation went missing.

In January last year another German national -- Norbert Franz Fleischmann -- went missing on Praslin, the third most populated island.

The police launched an extensive search by sea, land and air to find Fleischmann, but the search was called off the next month.

In May 2016, Gunter Lamprecht of Munich was reported missing – the day he was supposed to leave the 115-island archipelago in the western Indian Ocean.

Lamprecht was reported missing by the hotel where he had been staying after all of his personal belongings including passport were found on the day he was expected to have left for the main island Mahé, for his return flight to Germany.