German hiker missing since Sunday found dead on Crete
A 67-year-old German hiker who was reported missing on Sunday in Crete has been found dead, the sixth tourist death in June during a period of unusually hot weather.
The man’s body was found in a ravine near Sentoni beach, on a path heading towards Trypti Gorge, on the southern coast of the island, in Hania prefecture, according to state broadcaster ERT.
The tourist had set off alone on a hike in a canyon in the Sougia region on Sunday and after a few hours called his wife to report that he was not feeling well. Some reports said he had not taken water with him.
Firefighters located his body after picking up his mobile phone signal.
“A search and rescue operation started immediately and a special rescue unit with drones spotted the man’s (body) in Trypiti Gorge,” a police official said.
Emergency rescuers and firefighters are engaged in an operation to remove the body from the scene, which has been described as an inaccessible area.
Judging by the location of his body, the man must have become disorientated and ended up on a path leading towards Trypti Gorge.
The man is the sixth tourist to die in Greece in recent weeks after setting out on a hike. There has been a spate of deaths and disappearances of tourists during an unusual June heatwave across the Mediterranean country, highlighting the dangers of exposure to temperatures touching or exceeding 40 Celsius.
Rescue teams are also searching for two French women, aged 73 and 64, on the island of Sikinos, and a 59-year-old American policeman holidaying on the island of Amorgos.
A 55-year-old American was found dead on the Greek island of Mathraki in the Ionian Sea last week, and a Dutch tourist on the Aegean island of Samos earlier in the month.
The body of British TV presenter Michael Mosley was found on Symi, another Aegean island, on June 9 after a four-day search operation by aircraft, drones and boats. He had taken a walk alone in high temperatures before going missing. [Kathimerini/Reuters]
