Kidnap alerts are prepared for abducted children
Switzerland is to begin nationwide kidnapping alerts next year by spreading messages over television, radio, road signs and mobile phones if a child is abducted.
The programme follows the 2007 kidnapping of a five-year-old, Ylenia Lenhard, who was found buried in woods nearly six weeks after she was abducted and poisoned in eastern Switzerland.
The new alarm will begin with warnings spread through television, radio and road signs, and announcements at airports and train stations, if there is concrete suspicion or knowledge that a kidnapped child is in danger, authorities said on Thursday.
The Swiss News Agency and the Associated Press will participate, a statement said.
In a later phase, warnings will be disseminated through the internet and text messages, with links providing photographs of the victim and the suspected abductor. The programme may also be extended to help adults who are kidnapped.
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