‘It’s a very lonely world’: The Brits who go missing abroad

Published

1 year ago

August 31, 2024

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“His room is still the same” and “there’s always a missing chair around the table”, says Pip, whose younger brother Sanjiv Kundi was 41 when he vanished in Paris 11 years ago.

She has visited the French capital many times since he left the family home in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, for a week’s holiday – always wondering if she will see his face in the crowd.

Sanjiv was the “apple of my parents’ eye”, she says, their only son surrounded by four sisters, but he struggled with his mental health in the years before his disappearance.

Distinctive looking, standing at around 6ft 2inch inches tall with dark, greying curly hair and a beard, Sanjiv was wearing glasses, a heavy brown, three-quarter length coat and brown cargo trousers when he took the 4.22pm Eurostar from St Pancras.

He arrived at Gare du Nord station on the evening of 25 September 2013 but what happened next remains a mystery.

He is believed to have returned to the station the following day to buy a ticket home for 1 October but there’s no available CCTV footage, and his cards and mobile phone have not been used since he went missing.

The impact on Sanjiv’s family has been devastating, his parents now in their 80s, his nephews all grown up, are still no closer to getting any answers.

Pip wonders if he’s been a victim of crime, if something sinister has happened to him, or if he’s decided to live that way.

‘Somebody somewhere knows something’

If he has, she wants him to know he’s “deeply missed” and his family just want to know he’s safe – but she does not think he intentionally wanted to go missing.

“In this day and age, with all the technology we have, I can’t understand why nobody saw my brother that day,” says Pip.

“Somebody somewhere knows something.”

Her family is one of the many living with the nightmare of searching for a loved one who has gone missing abroad.

The LBT Global charity, which helped Jay Slater’s relatives after he disappeared while on holiday in Tenerife, says it gets about 3,000 enquiries a year and takes on about 300 to 400 of those cases.

But only a fraction get the same type of publicity as the 19-year-old, whose body was found in a ravine 29 days after he went missing, or television doctor Michael Mosley, 67, who was found dead four days after he disappeared on the Greek island of Symi.

Middle-aged men and those with mental health issues tend not to generate the same headlines as the young, photogenic or famous, says Matt Searle, LBT Global’s chief executive.

But the “extraordinary” case of Madeleine McCann, who was aged three when she disappeared from her holiday apartment in Portugal on 3 May 2007, set a “very public benchmark” for what people expect.

‘A missing foreigner is bottom of the pile’

Police in the UK have a duty to take statements and pass the information through Interpol to the relevant foreign police force, but they do not have any jurisdiction to carry out an investigation.

There are currently 69 Interpol yellow notices – the global police alerts issued to help locate people, including cases of suspected kidnappings and abductions – for British people, including Madeleine.

Most families will not get much support from the authorities and in some countries, “a missing foreigner is absolutely bottom of the pile”, says Matt, while those who go out to search themselves may not even be able to read the road signs.

“It’s a very lonely world for people who’ve got someone missing overseas,” he says.

“A huge part of every operation is explaining why the British police, the prime minister, the foreign secretary, aren’t all flying out there,” he says.

“It just doesn’t happen. You have to explain that the British government can’t do that. The Met Police aren’t going to be flying out in helicopters, going to look for them, you know, we’re not going to get any of that.

“But what we do is say, depending on what the case needs, we could try and find a local guy with a drone, mobilise local search and rescue, or fundraise to get on-the-ground support.”

‘We’ve been to the morgues’

Pip’s family has had virtually no contact with the French police and a year after Sanjiv went missing his file was shoved in a drawer, she says, so they were left to drive the search themselves.

She went to areas in Paris that were popular with rough sleepers, handed out leaflets and posters and appeared on French radio and TV.

“We’ve been to the morgues. We’ve been to the hospital,” she says. “And you can’t believe you still can’t find a scrap of anything to tell us what happened when he left that station.”

Pip has been assisted by the Missing People charity. It says 170,000 people a year, or one every 90 seconds, are reported missing in the UK, but lists the details of just 38 people missing abroad.

They include the high-profile cases of Madeleine McCann and Ben Needham, who was 21 months old when he disappeared on the Greek island of Kos in 1991.

While Sanjiv has attracted some publicity over the years, the coverage of the famous cases sometimes makes Pip think: “Why not my brother?”

Around 80% of cases resolved

LBT Global, which specialises in helping families whose relatives are missing abroad, has around 860 open cases, some going back 20 years.

The charity is able to tell around 80% of the people it works with what happened. Around half of those are happy endings, says Matt.

Alex Batty went missing aged 11 in 2017 after his mother Melanie Batty, who was not his legal guardian, took him on a pre-arranged trip to Spain with his grandfather.

They lived “off-grid” leading a nomadic lifestyle in southern France for six years until Alex made the decision to walk out and was found walking in darkness carrying his skateboard by a French delivery driver near Toulouse.

He was reunited with his grandmother and legal guardian Susan Caruana at his former home in Oldham, Greater Manchester, just before Christmas last year.

In other cases, a missing person is found in prison overseas or dead.

“Even being able to tell them that someone has died can be a relief for them, because at least they can move on with a grieving journey then, and we can make arrangements to repatriate the body, and they can have a burial,” says Matt.

“And it’s surprising how often a family will say, ‘I wish I knew they were dead rather than just not knowing at all’.”

Harder still, he says, is telling a family they are alive and well but they do not want to speak to them ever again. The reasons for this can vary but typically include a family breakdown, criminal activity within a family or they just want to leave their old life behind.

‘Never lose hope’

In those cases, Matt has to tell the family: “I’m sorry, but we can’t search for them anymore. They told me they don’t want to be found and they don’t want to be in touch.”

But living in long-term limbo like Pip’s family is also incredibly hard.

They have gone through all the stages of bereavement, from shock to denial, to depression and anger at “why isn’t anybody looking for him?”

And when a new high-profile missing person’s case like Jay Slater hits the headlines it “brings it all back”.

“Every person out there whose family member is missing could almost feel and touch the emotion that [family] was going through,” says Pip.

LBT Global’s oldest cases date back to 2004 or 2005 but Matt says his charity has located people who have been missing for more than 20 years.

“The message to families is never lose hope,” he says.

Missing People runs a free and confidential helpline for those affected by a disappearance. You can text or call them on 116 000 or send an email to 11600@missingpeople.org.uk.

UK

UK weather: Dozens of flood alerts in place across England and Wales amid warning of heavy rainfall

Published

6 hours ago

November 29, 2025

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UK weather: Dozens of flood alerts in place across England and Wales amid warning of heavy rainfall

Dozens of flood alerts have been issued across England and Wales amid a warning of heavy rainfall.

The Environment Agency has 35 flood alerts in place for rivers in England, while Natural Resources Wales has another 10 in force as of midday on Saturday. Alerts mean flooding is possible.

It comes as the Met Office has a yellow weather warning in place for rain in the East Midlands, North East England and Yorkshire and Humber on Saturday.

Up to 30mm could fall “fairly widely”, the agency predicted, with as much as 60mm possible over higher ground. A yellow warning for ice is also in place for large parts of northern England overnight into Sunday.

Check the weather forecast where you are

There is also a yellow warning for rain on Monday covering North West England, Hampshire, South West England and Wales.

Up to 40mm is likely to fall quite widely for Derbyshire, North West England, and Yorkshire and Humber, and there could be as much as 120mm in a few places over the Cumbrian fells, the Met Office said.

In South West England, there could be up to 50mm “across the higher parts of Exmoor, Dorset, the Mendips and Cotswolds”.

Also for Monday, there is a more serious amber warning for rain in South Wales all day, with 120mm possible in a few places.

Homes and businesses could be flooded, the agency said, and there may be travel disruption and difficult driving conditions.

England and Wales normally averages just over 100mm of rainfall for the entire month of November.

Jason Kelly, chief meteorologist at the Met Office, said: “There is a clear signal for strong winds and periods of heavy rain, which could lead to surface water flooding and delays to road and rail travel.

“Rain will also push into North East England during Saturday, some of which could fall as snow over higher ground when the system meets colder air coming down from the north.

“Sunday will be drier and brighter, albeit colder, for many areas with blustery winds lingering near some North Sea coasts. Expect widespread frost overnight into Monday before the next weather system approaches.”

Next week, the weather is expected to remain changeable, with occasional dry spells.

Homes across Scotland left without power

It comes after homes across Scotland were left without power following severe gales overnight.

The Met Office had issued a yellow weather warning for wind, covering Orkney, Shetland and western parts of the Highlands and Argyll and Bute, which expired at 11am on Friday.

Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks said gusts reached 83mph on the Western Isles and 75mph on the Isle of Mull.

A spokesperson said around 1,000 homes on the Isle of Mull were without power by mid-morning on Friday, but most have since been restored.

UK

Software issue impacts thousands of Airbus planes – as UK passengers warned of potential disruption

Published

23 hours ago

November 28, 2025

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Software issue impacts thousands of Airbus planes - as UK passengers warned of potential disruption

Airline passengers have been warned of potential travel disruption after Airbus identified a “significant number” A320 planes impacted by a software issue.

In a statement, the plane maker said: “Analysis of a recent event involving an A320 Family aircraft has revealed that intense solar radiation may corrupt data critical to the functioning of flight controls.

“Airbus has consequently identified a significant number of A320 Family aircraft currently in-service which may be impacted.”

It is understood the incident that triggered an unexpected repair involved a JetBlue flight from Cancun, Mexico, to Newark, New Jersey, on 30 October, which suffered a sharp loss of altitude which injured several passengers.

An Airbus spokesperson told Sky News the necessary software change would affect up to 6,000 planes.

They added that for most of the affected aircraft, the required software update would take 2-3 hours. However, some aircrafts would need new hardware to be able to adopt the required software and that those aircraft would be affected for longer.

Travel expert, Simon Calder, said the situation was “very concerning” but that he had full faith in the safety procedures of Airbus and airlines. He went on to say that “aviation remains extraordinarily safe.”

However, he warned that customers may not be entitled to cash compensation if affected by delays, as the issue would be considered out of the control of airlines.

EasyJet, British Airways, Aer Lingus, Lufthansa, American Airlines, Delta and Wizz Air are all affected by the issue.

Airbus told Sky News that it had proactively asked the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) to issue an air worthiness directive for the affected aircraft.

The issue is affecting A319, A320 and the A321 models. The company said the issue is only affecting A320s that are in service, not aircraft that are due to be delivered.

The UK Civil Aviation Authority said it is likely to mean some disruption and cancellation to flights.

Some airlines will be more affected than others, Colombian airline Avianca has announced that it will close ticket sales for 10 days due to the issue.

In a statement, easyJet said: “As we are expecting this to result in some disruption, we will inform customers directly about any changes to our flying programme tomorrow and will do all possible to minimise the impact.”

American Airlines said the Airbus software issue would impact 340 aircraft and it expects some operational delays due to a major software change requirement.

The airline added that it expects the vast majority of the updates to be completed by “today or tomorrow”, and that they are “intently focused” on limiting cancellations.

Wizz Air said some of its flights over the weekend may be affected, while Air India said the issue could lead to delays.

Indigo, an Indian airline which operates over 150 A320s, said it was proactively completing mandated updates on the affected aircraft.

British Airways told Sky News that only three of its aircraft where affected and that the required fixes will be carried out overnight and are not expected to disrupt its operations.

Aer Lingus is in a similar position, with a limited number of aircraft impacted. The Airline doesn’t expect there to be significant operational disruption, but is taking “immediate steps to complete the required software installations”.

In October, the Airbus A320 family broke a major milestone when it overtook Boeing’s 737 to become the most-delivered jetliner in history.

This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.

Please refresh the page for the latest version.

You can receive breaking news alerts on a smartphone or tablet via the Sky News app. You can also follow us on WhatsApp and subscribe to our YouTube channel to keep up with the latest news.

UK

Famous names affected by prostate cancer criticise NHS screening decision

Published

23 hours ago

November 28, 2025

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Famous names affected by prostate cancer criticise NHS screening decision

Famous names affected by prostate cancer have spoken of their disappointment after mass screening for the illness was not recommended for use on the NHS.

The National Screening Committee (NSC), comprised of doctors and economists, told the government that screening is “likely to cause more harm than good”.

Its decision means the NHS is unlikely to offer mass screening for men over the age of 45.

Six-time Olympic gold-medallist Sir Chris Hoy, former Prime Minister David Cameron, Sir Stephen Fry, actor and author Tony Robinson and journalist Dermot Murnaghan, who have all been diagnosed with the disease, spoke out after today’s decision.

In a draft recommendation, the committee said the reason it was “not recommending whole population screening using the prostate specific antigen (PSA) test was that it was likely to cause more harm than good”.

Instead, it proposes a targeted screening programme every two years for men with specific genetic mutations, known as BRCA-1 and BRCA-2, between the ages of 45 and 61.

But Sir Chris, who confirmed last year that his prostate cancer diagnosis was terminal, with doctors giving him two to four years to live, criticised the move.

The former Team GB cyclist, who confirmed in February 2024 that he was undergoing treatment, said: “I am extremely disappointed and saddened by the recommendation announced by the National Screening Committee today to rule against national screening for men at high risk of prostate cancer.

“More than 12,000 men are dying of prostate cancer every year; it is now the UK’s most common cancer in men, with black men at double the risk, along with men with a family history, like myself.

“While introducing regular checks for men carrying the BRCA genes is a very small step forward, it is not enough. I know, first hand, that by sharing my story following my own diagnosis two years ago, many, many lives have been saved.

“Early screening and diagnosis saves lives. I am determined to continue to use my platform to raise awareness, encourage open discussion, raise vital funds for further research and support, and to campaign for change.”

His views were echoed by Lord Cameron, who this month announced he was treated for prostate cancer last year.

Lord Cameron said in a post on X: “I am disappointed by today’s recommendation on prostate cancer screening from the National Committee.

“Targeted screening is a natural first step – but the recommendation today is far too targeted, not including black men or men with a family history, both high-risk groups.

“Prostate cancer is the most common cancer among British men. We are letting down too many men if we don’t push for a wider screening programme that includes all high-risk groups – and not just the men involved, but their families too, who risk losing a loved one unnecessarily. As I know all too well, prostate cancer can be symptomless early on.

“That’s why screening is so essential – catching the cancers early when they can be more effectively and successfully treated, like in my own case.”

Sir Tony, journalist Mr Murnaghan and retired footballer Les Ferdinand also voiced their disappointment after the decision.

Sir Tony, 79, who starred as Baldrick in Blackadder, said: “I’m bitterly disappointed. Getting an early diagnosis for prostate cancer could save your life, but we still have no screening programme for it in the UK.

“I was lucky I found my cancer early, but nearly 10,000 men a year are diagnosed too late for a cure, and that’s just not right.”

Broadcaster Mr Murnaghan, 67, added: “With prostate cancer cases higher than they’ve ever been, and the disease dominating the national conversation, I really thought we were heading to an exciting moment here.

“I’m so disappointed that the committee has decided not to recommend screening – it felt about time progress was made for men.”

He added in a statement shared with Sky News: “An acceptable halfway house, would perhaps be to extend screening to black men – and those with a known history of cancer in their family. But clearly a full nationwide screening programme would be best.”

Sir Stephen, who is a Prostate Cancer Research ambassador who revealed in 2018 he had undergone surgery after being diagnosed with the disease, said: “I’m deeply disappointed by today’s news. Men in the UK deserve so much better. Prostate cancer remains the second biggest cancer killer of men in this country, with more than 12,000 dying every year.

“The only way we will make a dent in that appalling statistic is by catching prostate cancer early, before symptoms appear – and the best way to do that is through a screening programme. I hope the country sees sense.”

Mr Ferdinand, whose grandfather died from prostate cancer, added: “I’ve seen members of my family survive prostate cancer, because their cancer was found in time.

“Without a national screening programme, the responsibility to find prostate cancer early and in time for a cure rests entirely on men’s shoulders, and it shouldn’t be this way.

“Black men are at double the risk of prostate cancer and twice as likely to die, and something has to be done.”

Colin McFarlane, an actor who was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2023, told Sky News presenter Jonathan Samuels the decision was a “massive mistake”.

“I’ve been diagnosed with prostate cancer, but I’m not having any treatment. I have something called active surveillance, so every three months I have a PSA blood test, and then once a year I have an MRI,” he said.

McFarlane said black men over the age of 45 are at high risk, and “should be invited for screening”. He added: “I personally think men over 50 should be invited for screening, because they’re also at risk. I’m concerned now for all the black men out there who are high risk.”

NSC added it did not recommend extensive screening for black men due to a current lack of evidence and data.

The committee also does not recommend targeted screening for men with a family history of the disease, who are also at a higher risk of prostate cancer.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting said he would consider the findings ahead of March’s final decision, adding that he wanted to see earlier diagnosis and quicker treatment, but that needed to be balanced against “the harms that wider screening could cause to men”.

Prostate cancer symptoms and treatment

According to the NHS, prostate cancer is most common in men over the age of 50 from a black African or Caribbean background.
Its severity is determined by whether it spreads to other parts of the body.
It does not usually have any signs or symptoms at first, but later signs can include back, hip or pelvis pain, or difficulty maintaining an erection.
Problems urinating can also be a sign of other prostate problems.
Treatments for prostate cancer include surgery, radiotherapy and hormone therapy.
However, the NHS says it does not always require treatment.

Professor Sir Mike Richards, a former national cancer director and chairman of the NSC, told a briefing that modelling on PSA shows “whole population screening may lead to a small reduction in prostate cancer deaths, but the very high levels of overdiagnoses” means the harms outweigh the benefits.

Experts are also waiting to see data from a large trial launched by Prostate Cancer UK last week into whether combining PSA with other tests, such as rapid MRI scans, may lead to recommending population-wide screening.

The trial is looking at the most promising screening techniques available, including PSA blood tests, genetic tests and 10-minute MRI scans, and whether they can be combined for a national screening programme.

The results will be ready within two years, it is hoped.

Mr Streeting added: “In the meantime, we will keep making progress on cutting cancer waiting times and investing in research into prostate cancer detection – in the last 12 months, 193,000 more patients received a diagnosis for suspected cancer on time.

“We are also providing funding to the £42m TRANSFORM trial, which has the potential to revolutionise prostate cancer screening, cutting out harmful side effects and making screening far more accurate.”