A family from the Frisian village of Surhuisterveen who lost their digital camera in a river in Norway 10 years ago, have just received the photographs from a German tourist.

He came across the camera last year after it had spent nine years at the bottom of the river. Although the camera was broken, the memory chip was unaffected.

On one photo, the finder noticed a car with a Dutch number plate. He contacted the police in Amsterdam who were eventually able to trace the camera’s rightful owner.

The family was surprised and happy to get the pictures back, a police spokesman is quoted as saying in the Telegraaf.