The last message to family on New Year’s Eve. The search for the second mountaineer continues
The body of. was found lifeless Samuel Harris35, manager of Crystal Palace Football Club, missing along with Aziz Ziriat36 years old, onAdamello since January 1st. The body was found under a thick layer of snow by the Alpine Rescue and Guardia di Finanza teams, transported to high altitude by helicopter. The search for the second mountaineer continues, but the operations are ongoing hampered by bad weather which forced rescuers to interrupt the surveys in the priority area identified thanks to the telephone data of one of the two hikers.
backpacks
—
This morning, before the body was found, the backpacks and equipment of the two mountaineers inside the Malga Dosson bivouac, at 2,360 meters above sea level. The rescuers searched the area between the bivouac and the top of Carè Alto, transporting a fifteen operators. The search area was concentrated around the Conca pass, at 2,600 metres, where the signal from one of the telephones had left a trace. In the meantime, a service has been activated psychological support for family members of the victims, who arrived in Trentino from Great Britain.
The Adamello excursion
—
The two climbers had spent midnight on New Year’s Eve at Malga Dosson bivouacat the foot of Carè Alto, toasting the new year with a bottle of wine. On January 1st they left the post to head to the Carè Alto refuge, at an altitude of 2,459 metres, with the intention of continuing towards the Trivena refuge on January 3rd. However, something must have gone wrong along the wayleading to the dramatic epilogue.
Rescue operations
—
The searches began when the two friends did not show up upon boarding for the return flight on January 6th. However, bad weather complicated operations for the first few hours, preventing the use of helicopters and drones. As weather conditions improved, rescuers were able to intensify their efforts, using the helicopter to fly over the area and bring teams up by land. Currently however, the body of Ziriat has not yet been located.
the last tracks on New Year’s Eve
—
The latest communication was sent by Aziz Ziriat on January 1stat 2.20pm. He had sent photos of the snow-capped peaks to his girlfriend Rebecca Dimmock. Interviewed by BBCthe woman described the two as “experienced hikers.” “They wanted to go on a New Year’s excursion,” he explained. “They wanted to go from refuge to refuge throughout the Dolomites, I think they wanted to spend some nights out. To get away from everything. It didn’t seem strange to me that they didn’t show up. I know that they arrived at the cabin and that they were drinking red wine, he said it was freezing. I just hope they find each other in a bivouac waiting for help“he declared.
Gazzetta dello Sport
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED