After walking 70 km, missing elderly man rescued from highway shoulder
A man in his 70s, reported missing five days earlier, was spotted walking along a highway shoulder after traveling more than 70 kilometers, according to a police video released Tuesday.
The video, titled “Elderly man spotted standing dangerously on a highway,” believed to have been filmed in summer, shows officers being dispatched after receiving a report that a man was walking along the highway and appeared to be in danger.
When an officer approached the man and asked why he was there, he replied that he did not know where he was.
The officers took him to a police station and later learned that he had walked more than 70 kilometers from Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, to Asan, South Chungcheong Province, without properly eating or sleeping, and that he had been reported missing by his family five days earlier.
Police provided the man with food and contacted his family to help ensure his safe return home.
Cases of elderly people found walking along highway shoulders have continued to be reported in recent months.
In February, police rescued an 80-year-old woman in Gunpo, Gyeonggi Province, after she wandered onto a highway shoulder while using a walking aid, according to news reports.
In July last year, a driver traveling from Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, toward Gwacheon spotted an elderly man walking alone on the edge of the highway in a dangerous situation and escorted him to a nearby police station.
“Many cases involving elderly people walking along roadsides are linked to dementia or cognitive decline rather than simple mistakes,” a police official said.
“As their sense of direction and judgment weaken, they may enter roadways without realizing the danger,” the official added, urging the public to report such cases immediately.
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