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Colombian businessman survives 10 days without food and water in Australia

Incredible but true. He is alive and doing well at a local hospital. When a Colombian wants to survive against all odds, he can. Read more ...muchocafe

THE brother of a missing South American drug company executive flew in from Canada yesterday to join a massive search on Moreton Island.

Ricardo Sirutis, a 47-year-old Colombian-born and Brazilian-based Pfizer executive, was last seen near Tangalooma Resort on Sunday afternoon.

Ricardo's brother, Stany Sirutis, landed in Brisbane from Vancouver yesterday at 6.30am and immediately joined the search effort.

"He will fight a lot to survive," Mr Sirutis said, as he prepared to join police and about 100 State Emergency Service volunteers.

"He's a person who is in very good physical shape."

Mr Sirutis said he planned to go the Moreton Island area known as The Desert, where Ricardo Sirutis was last seen, and put himself into his brother's mindset.

Mr Sirutis said he hoped that would provide searchers with a unique insight.

"I personally will go to where he was last seen and think like I were him, thinking I was lost there too," he said.

"It's been marvellous that so many people are trying to help my brother."

Mr Sirutis said he believed his brother, who was due to return to the mainland on Sunday afternoon, had become disoriented when it started raining.

He said he thought the rain could have helped his brother's chances of survival.

"I myself have been lost . . . and if you have water, you still have high hopes," Mr Sirutis said.

Sergeant Steve Barber said sunshine yesterday after days of rain had helped the search.

He said yesterday's search focused mainly on the south and east of The Desert.

"We had a positive sighting of Ricardo in The Desert area and that sighting was on Sunday afternoon," he said.

"But there has been nothing since, which leads us to believe Ricardo is still there in that area."

Sgt Barber said motorbikes, quad-bikes, four-wheel-drives and helicopters were being used in the search.

"This is close to the most intensive search I've been involved in," he said.

Ricardo Sirutis, the head of Pfizer's South American operations, was staying on the Gold Coast for a meeting of the company's high-level executives at the Sheraton Mirage.

He went missing after catching a ferry to Moreton Island for a day trip on Sunday.

By muchocafe on May 19, 2005, 20:19 in Friendly Talkzone.