The father of an English schoolboy missing on a French island today described how his 12-year-old son set off for a bike ride in autumn sunshine oblivious to the 80mph storm that was approaching.
Stephen Barnes, 57, said he was still “hoping for a miracle” but admitted his son Pierre would have struggled to survive in the cold and wet terrain. Pierre has not been seen since he went for his solo bike ride on the tiny island of Porquerolles on Saturday afternoon. His bike was later found abandoned on a coastal path after the storm struck.
He had just started a half-term holiday with his parents and brothers and sisters at the beauty spot, off France’s southern coast close to Toulon.
Mr Barnes, a property company director from Grantham, Lincolnshire, said it was calm and sunny when Pierre rode off and the family had no idea 80mph winds and 20ft waves were about to hit the island.
“My wife told him he could go out on his bike for a quarter of an hour. It was just a freak accident, one of those tragic things that no one can be blamed for. You have to give children some freedom. He’s a victim of the storm really,” he said.
Mr Barnes praised the response from islanders and rescue services and said he was still “clinging to hope” Pierre would be found.
He added: “Clearly the more time that passes, the less we can hope. But we know children can survive in a hypothermic state for several days. That’s why we want the search to continue as long as possible for the best chance of finding him alive.”
Local police commissioner Eric Mayen said: “Every part of the island will be examined. Finding a child after two days is not an impossibility.”
Veronique Fleury, who runs water taxi services to the island, which is less than five square miles, said: “Everyone is trying to find him. We hope he just had a problem with his bicycle or got lost in the forest.”
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Mr Barnes and his wife Florence are maintaining a vigil at the island’s fire station with their other three children, aged 17, 15 and 13.
