Search efforts usually focus on the elderly, children and persons in need of urgent assistance.
"We lose 5 - 10 persons an hour and up to 15 every three hours," said Red Cross Group Preparedness Director Matti Moilanen.
Thousands of people in Finland go missing each year. Statistics from emergency services show that this year nearly 6,000 people were reported missing. That number is expected to increase over the next few weeks, as disappearances tend to peak during the summer period.
Last year nearly 15,000 went missing. Searches for them were coordinated by the Finnish Red Cross along with its 20,000-member voluntary rescue service. The records show that between 1950 and this year, some 500 Finns still remain missing.
