Maine

Trapped Tourists Call Wrong Lisbon Police for Help

Two women trapped in an elevator in Lisbon, Portugal needed help, so they searched online for "Lisbon Police" and called the first number listed

Border officials are aiming to more than quadruple the number of asylum seekers sent back over the southern border each day, a major expansion of a top government effort to address the swelling number of Central Americans arriving in the country, a Trump administration official said Saturday. It was the latest attempt to ease a straining immigration system that officials say is at the breaking point. Hundreds of officers who usually screen cargo and vehicles at ports of entry were reassigned to help manage migrants. Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen asked for volunteers from non-immigration agencies within her department, sent a letter to Congress late this past week requesting resources and broader authority to deport families faster, and she met with Central American and Mexican officials.

Two tourists who became trapped in an elevator accidently called the wrong Lisbon police department for help.

Dispatcher Cathy Roy told WCSH-TV Tuesday she was working at the Lisbon Police Department in Maine a few weeks ago when she received a call from the trapped tourists. The only problem was they were in Lisbon, Portugal.

Roy says the two women had pressed the elevators' emergency button for help. No one answered, so the women searched online for "Lisbon Police" and called the first number listed.

Roy says she stayed on the phone with the women and found the right Lisbon police department to call.

Despite the language barrier, Roy says she was able to direct emergency crews to the women and help them escape.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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