Burnaby man alive and well

By Dan Hilborn
Published Jan. 12, 2005


The only Burnaby resident to be formally reported as a missing person to the International Committee of the Red Cross after the massive Southeast Asian tsunamis has been found and is doing well.

Hans Werner Dahinten, 73, has reported home to say that he's doing well, and hoping to make his way to Bangkok, Thailand over the next few days.

The missing person report was originally posted on the Red Cross' Family Links website by his ex-wife, Susan Dahinten, just two days after the massive earthquake and tidal waves.

"He was supposed to go over for two or three months, and if things go well and he still has his passport and credit cards, he just might stay," Susan Dahinten told the Burnaby NOW this week.

The German-born senior has travelled to Thailand about a dozen times since his semi-retirement, said his ex-wife. After reporting back home, a family friend hopped on an airplane to join him in Thailand, which was one of about a dozen countries to be devastated by a Dec. 26 earthquake off the coast of Indonesia.

As of last week, more than 150,000 people were reported as killed by the disaster. Another five million people are believed to have been left homeless.

The Red Cross Family Links website is at www.familylinks.icrc.org.