A young hiker was found dead and a second one injured and in state of shock on the Mt Psiloritis on the island of Crete early morning hours of Thursday. The two young men, aged 21 and 20, were trapped by snow and frost at a high altitude and one of them most probably slipped and fell from a height of some 30 meters.
The surviving hiker had reportedly called international emergency number <112> short after 6 o’ clock on Wednesday afternoon, prompting a large scale Search and Rescue operation by the Special Disaster Unit (EMAK) of the Greek Fire Service in the darkness of the mountain.
EMAK members first located the caller, two hours later his dead friend.
The surviving hiker has multiple fractures and injuries and has been transported to the hospital of Heraklio where he is to undergo surgery.
The two hikers started their trekking tour on Wednesday together with another 4 people. The latter abandoned the tour at some point at noon and returned to the refuge.
When the took decided also to return, on their way down, the slipperiness of the snowed path allegedly forced them to call for help.
The 21-year-old hiker was found some 30 meters below the point where the other hiker was located. Authorities suggest that he must have slipped on the path where the snow had turned into ice and fell thus suffering fatal injuries.
According to ekriti.gr, doctors at the Heraklio hospital said that the life of the surviving hiker was not in danger.
