Police rescue man

Press, 17 November 1987, Page 1

Police rescue man

PA Dunedin An elderly man was brought to safety from the top of a sixstorey building in downtown Dunedin yesterday by the police. The police were called to the New Zealand Permanent Building Society’s building at 12.10 p.m. By the time emergency services arrived, a small crowd had gathered to watch the 65-year-old man as he clung to scaffold-the-building. While Ministry of Transport officials cleared the street, Constable Terry van Turnhout climbed part-way up the scaffolding to talk to the man. After about two hours, on the

advice of a doctor at the scene, Constable van Turnhout moved towards the man and, with help from another officer escorted him down. “He wasn’t prepared to come down at all,” Constable van Turnhout said later. “But he agreed he should. Eventually it was the doctor who dictated the play. He said if he stayed up there any longer he’d probably fall.” The police said later there were some problems with crowd control and reinforcements were called. One or two onlookers were heard to call out to the man to Jump. The man is now in hospital.