- Omar bin Omran found alive after disappearing 26 years ago
- Had been assumed to have died in Algerian civil war
- Neighbor has been arrested on suspicion of kidnapping
A man in Algeria who had been feared dead for many years has been found alive – having been allegedly held captive by his neighbor for 26 years.
Omar bin Omran was found by local police in the cellar of his neighbor’s house – just 200 meters away from his family home.
Bin Omran, then aged 19, had disappeared in 1998 from Djelfa in Algeria, having left home to attend a vocational school. At the time, civil war was raging in the country between the Algerian government and Islamist groups and his family feared that he had been caught up in that and killed. It is estimated that 200,000 people in all were killed in the conflict.
But the now 45-year-old bin Omran had apparently been just hundreds of meters away the whole time.
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However, it wasn’t until the local public prosecutor’s office received a complaint that bin Omran was in a sheepfold in the house of one of his neighbors that police took action.
A statement from the public prosecutor confirmed bin Omran’s rescue. “On 12 May at 8pm local time it found victim Omar B, aged 45, in the case of his neighbour BA, aged 61.”
Footage released of the rescue show how bin Omran was found in the neighbor’s basement, which was accessed via a trapdoor hidden beneath hay. Bin Omran had a full beard and was wearing a sweater. He was immediately taken to hospital to have his condition checked.
The suspect was arrested and is being held in custody.
Sadly, bin Omran’s mother – who never stopped looking for her son, according to another neighbor – died in 2013.
Recent headlines also highlight other dramatic events, such as the man detained after an alleged attempted break-in at Drake’s house.
