From London soup kitchen to a raft in Scandinavian sea
Amy Iggulden
Telegraph.co.uk
___________
Police are trying to solve the mystery of how a homeless man living rough in London ended up on a makeshift raft drifting in the sea off Scandinavia.
The castaway, who claimed that he had been drifting for four days, was traced back to a soup kitchen in central London.
George Williams was dehydrated and frostbitten when rescued
The centre identified him as George Williams, 46, who had been living on the streets for several years. Staff said he was last seen there two months ago.
Mr Williams was rescued from the raft made of oil drums in the Skagerrak strait, between Norway, Denmark and Sweden.
He claimed to have been thrown overboard from a British ship, but has given Swedish police conflicting accounts of his background and refuses to give details of his life.
Mr Williams, who has an eastern European accent, was dehydrated and frostbitten when he was discovered by a Norwegian gas tanker heading for Sweden on April 21.
He was identified by staff at Whitefield Memorial Church, Tottenham Court Road, as a regular visitor to its soup kitchen. Lay workers and clergy are now worried for his safety.
They said he was a private man and had offered no details of his family or upbringing, but had carried out impressive painting work at the centre and was always smartly dressed.
Police say he has given confusing versions of his past, first claiming to be a "stateless American", and saying he had been born in Cape Town in 1959 before being adopted by a Russian Jewish family at 12 months old.
Thomas Fuxborg, a spokesman for the Swedish police, said they were holding Mr Williams without restrictions in an immigration centre in Gothenburg until his nationality could be established.
May 04, 2006
Amy Iggulden
Telegraph.co.uk
___________
Police are trying to solve the mystery of how a homeless man living rough in London ended up on a makeshift raft drifting in the sea off Scandinavia.
The castaway, who claimed that he had been drifting for four days, was traced back to a soup kitchen in central London.
George Williams was dehydrated and frostbitten when rescued
The centre identified him as George Williams, 46, who had been living on the streets for several years. Staff said he was last seen there two months ago.
Mr Williams was rescued from the raft made of oil drums in the Skagerrak strait, between Norway, Denmark and Sweden.
He claimed to have been thrown overboard from a British ship, but has given Swedish police conflicting accounts of his background and refuses to give details of his life.
Mr Williams, who has an eastern European accent, was dehydrated and frostbitten when he was discovered by a Norwegian gas tanker heading for Sweden on April 21.
He was identified by staff at Whitefield Memorial Church, Tottenham Court Road, as a regular visitor to its soup kitchen. Lay workers and clergy are now worried for his safety.
They said he was a private man and had offered no details of his family or upbringing, but had carried out impressive painting work at the centre and was always smartly dressed.
Police say he has given confusing versions of his past, first claiming to be a "stateless American", and saying he had been born in Cape Town in 1959 before being adopted by a Russian Jewish family at 12 months old.
Thomas Fuxborg, a spokesman for the Swedish police, said they were holding Mr Williams without restrictions in an immigration centre in Gothenburg until his nationality could be established.
May 04, 2006
