Search for Michael Mosley called off for night as wife vows family 'will not lose hope'
The search for missing television doctor Michael Mosley on the Greek island of Symi has been called off for the night.
Volunteers and emergency workers spent Saturday searching a treacherous mountainous part of the island after the 67-year-old TV personality disappeared during a walk on Wednesday.
The search will resume on Sunday morning after it was deemed too dangerous to continue once night fell.
In a statement on Saturday, Mr Mosley's wife said his family “will not lose hope” in the search for him on the Greek island of Symi.
Dr Clare Bailey Mosley said the past few days had been “unbearable” and thanked all those involved in the effort to find her husband.
She said: “It has been three days since Michael left the beach to go for a walk. The longest and most unbearable days for myself and my children.
“The search is ongoing and our family are so incredibly grateful to the people of Symi, the Greek authorities and the British consulate who are working tirelessly to help find Michael.
“We will not lose hope.”
Mr Mosley's four children have joined their mother on Symi to help with the search efforts.
The mayor of the Greek island said on Saturday that there is “no chance” the search will be called off.
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 Mr 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.
The mayor said the area where Mr 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 Mr Mosley was described as a “race against time” by one of the rescuers on Friday.
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”.
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.
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