‘No chance’ search for Michael Mosley will be called off, mayor vows

The mayor of the Greek Island where British TV doctor Michael Mosley is missing has said there is “no chance” the search will be called off until he is found.

Eleftherios Papakaloudoukas, the mayor of Symi, vowed to continue the extensive search operation which has involved police, firefighters with drones, and divers.

But speaking through a translator, the mayor of 22 years questioned how anyone could survive in the heat that topped 40C on the day Mosley disappeared.

A search dog was only able to work for an hour on Saturday morning due to the temperature, as the search resumed, he added.

Mosley’s four children have arrived on Symi and are set to help with the search.

His wife, Dr Claire Bailey, has been searching the island joined by her British friends, Mr Papakaloudoukas added.

The mayor said the area where Mosley is believed to have travelled through is “difficult to pass” and is “only rocks”.

It is also populated by “loads” of snakes, he said.

The search to find Mosley was described as a “race against time” by one of the rescuers on Friday.

The 67-year-old TV personality vanished after setting off on a walk to the centre of the island on Wednesday.

Mr Papakaloudoukas said he hoped Mosley would be found “safe and alive”, adding: “All the community is so sad about this, (it has) never happened before.”

At 6am, firefighters started scouring a 6.5km (four-mile) radius over a mountainous area that is surrounded by sea, said Manolis Tsimpoukas, who organises searches for missing people on the Dodecanese Islands.

Asked if there had been any sign of the Briton, he said there has been “nothing, nothing” and that if anything is discovered, they will find him within an hour.

He said the area is “very dangerous”.

A uniformed team from the island have been working in the high heat as the search continued, with one member pulling a sheep from a stone shack with a corrugated iron roof to search inside.

It is understood Mosley was last seen by CCTV at a grey-stoned house beside a harbour on the island.

He may have walked along a steep uphill concrete road.

At the end of the street, a small path leads into the rocky landscape which has little vegetation beyond thistles and dry grass.

On Friday, the mayor’s daughter Mika Papakalodouka told the PA news agency that “a lot of” island residents had joined the search using their own boats to find the British national.

“It is a small island, people talk. We’re good people actually here. Everybody is looking for him,” the 20-year-old told PA.

“It’s such a small island to get lost on. It’s so weird for us. Everybody is worried and looking for him.”

A woman reported seeing Mosley, known for popularising the 5:2 diet and for his appearances on The One Show and This Morning, in the Pedi area on Wednesday.

A local Facebook group said Mosley went for a walk from Saint Nikolas beach at about 1.30pm Greek time (11.30am BST) on Wednesday.