Daniel Hoarau, a man in his forties and a lieutenant with the Réunion Fire and Rescue Service (SDIS), had been missing since Sunday. His colleagues, who set out to search for him this morning, found his body in Marla. The firefighter had taken his own life.
His family and friends raised the alarm at the end of the weekend, initially explaining that the man had gone to a popular hiking spot but were unable to provide any further details. The police immediately launched a major search operation to locate the point from which the firefighter had set off.
The man’s vehicle – he has not been heard from since setting off on Sunday morning, although he was due to return that same evening – was found at the Col des Bœufs. His personal belongings, as well as his hiking kit, including his tent and sleeping bag, had, strangely, been left inside the vehicle. However, information gathered by investigators has enabled them to track Daniel Hoarau’s mobile phone to the Maïdo area, at the other end of Mafate, from the middle of the night on Sunday until Monday afternoon. The phone, which is still switched on, could help to narrow down the area of his presumed disappearance even further as early as today.
Despite the intensive search operations carried out by PGHM personnel both from the air and on the ground, no trace of the missing person has yet been found. A dog-handling team sent to the scene was unfortunately forced to turn back due to severe weather conditions at the start of this week. However, the weather conditions did not prevent the helicopter from carrying out several flyovers yesterday in order to narrow down the search area, although it was not possible to pinpoint the exact location of the mobile phone. Teams on foot were also forced to call off the search at nightfall, before resuming their efforts early this morning.
This morning, his colleagues – professional firefighters well-accustomed to difficult conditions – set out onto the trails in Mafata at first light on Tuesday, from Maïdo and Taïbit. By mid-morning, they had found the body of their colleague in Marla, where he had taken his own life.
Daniel Hoarau, an accomplished sportsman and seasoned hiker, was recently called upon to carry out a particularly delicate and difficult rescue operation during a fire in Cambaie. His family and close friends feared he might take his own life, given the particular vulnerability this father had been experiencing over the past few months.