UPD Rock kills tourist in Samaria gorge; dozens hikers trapped (VID)

A tourist was killed by a rock slide in Samaria gorge on the island of Crete late Wednesday afternoon. Dozens of hikers are trapped in the gorge.

According to initial information by local media,the rock crushed the woman’s leg and she died from uncontrollable bleeding. The victim was an Ukrainian national, it was initially reported.

However, a representative of personnel working in Samaria gorge told Mega TV Live News that the woman was a German national. He added that the accident occurred at 2:45 ad that the rock injured her in the femoral artery. She died after 45 minutes due to the bleeding and despite the efforts of another hiker, a doctor, to help her.

According to neakriti.gr,  another hiker, a woman, has been injured in the leg.

The rock slide in the area of Portes, around 1.5 km away from the gorge exit in Agia Roumeli, was allegedly caused by heavy rainfall that unexpectedly hit Chania and the surrounding area  at noon on Wednesday.

Dozens of hikers are reportedly trapped in the Samaria gorge as rocks have blocked the access passage. local flashnews.gr reported.

Large forces of firefighters and rescuers from Chania, Heraklio and Rethymno  have rushed to the area to rescue the trapped hikers, while forces from Sfakia are due to arrive, too. Also a doctor is underway.

At the same time, efforts are underway to organize a ship and evacuate the trapped hikers from Agia Roumeli. Of course, the question is how the hikers walk down to the port that is relatively nearby.

The current weather conditions are not considered as “evacuation friendly”, local media initially reported.

According to latest information, the coordinating fire department has gathered the trapped hikers, around 32 people, at a specific point in the gorge so that they will not be in danger until they are safely led to the exit.

Some 10 people, who were left behind, will remain for security reasons, at the outpost of the forest station inside the settlement of the Samaria gorge and will leave tomorrow.

The workers representative said they had not closed the passage to Samaria gorge as they usually do due to weather conditions, because the strong rainfall was unexpected.

UPDATE

Short before 5 p.m. and after an operation that lasted more than 3 hours rescuers managed to remove the body of the woman from the Samaria gorge and have it transferred with a helicopter to a morgue in Chania for an autopsy.

Videos

The manager of Samaria gorge said in a statement that a total of 1,074 people were inside at the time of the incident and that they were all safely evacuated to Agia Roumeli.

Video: Hikers waiting for the rescue as streams full of water run beside them.

Authorities decided that Samaria gorge remains closed to the public for the next days for “preventive reasons,” while experts will inspect the area.

It is estimated that during the day, in the area of ​​the National Forest of Samari , 22 millimeters of rain fell, while it is usually 16 millimeters that fall throughout the month, as meteorologist Giorgos Tsatrafillias told zarpanews.gr.