Interpol hunts for missing visitor
INTERPOL has been called in to help search for a French primary school teacher who vanished in Hong Kong more than two months ago.
Alain Kraus, 36, had just been granted a Chinese visa and planned to visit the country during a three-week exchange trip to Hong Kong University.
But immigration authorities have no record of him leaving the territory.
A search of his room found no passport or ticket to France, but HK$900 and US$100 (HK$774) was discovered in a locked suitcase with US$200 in traveller's cheques, clothes, gifts bought in Hong Kong and his French identity card.
Mr Kraus' family and friends fear he could have been abducted or murdered.
Hong Kong University's Denis Meyer, who co-ordinated the exchange programme, said he believed Mr Kraus was vulnerable because he was half West Indian.
''He is different from the usual gweilos, '' he said.
''There aren't that many black people in Hong Kong and China and my feeling is that he could have been more of a target.
''The last time I saw him he was talking about going to China but was looking for some less expensive way of getting through [the border].'' The French Consulate in Hong Kong informed Interpol, the French embassy in Beijing and the consulate in Shanghai.
Consul Anne Genoud said: ''We really don't know if he left Hong Kong or not,'' she said.
''We are making inquiries at the embassy in Beijing and have been in touch with his father. We just have no idea where he is.'' Mr Kraus' father, Henry, speaking from his home in Paris, said he was convinced his son had crossed the border into China.
''So far we have not been able to find out if the Chinese authorities have a record of him entering the country,'' he said.
''I don't know what has happened to him: he could have been killed or robbed for his passport. He was alone so if he was hurt anything could have happened.'' Hong Kong Interpol Chief Inspector Simon Lee Wing-kong said the case had been passed to the police missing persons unit.
''We know he obtained a visa for China but the Immigration Department told us that he never left Hong Kong,'' Mr Lee said.
''The possibility is extremely slim that he has gone to China through the proper channels.'' Mr Kraus, from St Pol-Sur-Mer in northern France, arrived in the territory on July 12 and planned to leave on July 28.
He came with a group of 13 from the University of Lille on an exchange with Hong Kong University language centre.
Mr Kraus, a single man, applied for a Chinese visa on July 19. He said goodbye to his friends two days later and was not seen again.
