A German man lost on a frozen stretch of the North Sea owes his life to a webcam.
A woman 500km away spied his camera flash on the webcam and called police, the UK Daily Mail reported.
The man, caught on the ice off the coast of St. Peter-Ording near the Danish border, was facing almost certain death.
He flashed his camera at a camera set up on the beach, which by an extraordinary stroke of luck was witnessed online by a woman in southern Germany who had logged on to watch the same beautiful sunset he had set out to witness.
Seeing the camera flashes she alerted local police who in turn sent through an emergency call that resulted in a patrol rescuing the man as temperatures plunged to –20C, the Mail said.
“He was walking on the ice, got disoriented and would probably have either fallen through the ice or succumbed to the cold,” said police spokeswoman Kristin Stielow. “He was very lucky that this lady was sharing the same natural phenomenon but from the warmth and safety of her own home.”
The man in his 40s, was treated for mild exposure, and said he hoped to visit the woman to thank her for saving his life.