The bodies of four hikers have been found in the Vardousia Mountains in Greece. They died in an avalanche during a Christmas Day hike on Korakas Peak.
The victims were Giorgos Domalis, Thanasis Kolotouros, Konstantinos Patikas, and Theodora Kaplani — all experienced hikers. Domalis had completed the route before and climbed several mountains across Greece. Initially, only three people were reported missing, but Theodora Kaplani had joined the group at the last minute.
They set out from the mountain village of Athanasios Diakos on the morning of December 25, aiming to follow a fairly challenging route toward the 2,495m summit of Korakas. Conditions appeared favorable at first, but the fresh snow, steep slopes, and warm weather made the terrain dangerous.
“They were taken by the avalanche and carried downhill,” explained the local community president, Konstantinos Mastrokostopolous. “The weather looked good, with strong sunshine after days of frost, but those were exactly the conditions that can cause an avalanche.”
A massive search began right after they were reported missing. More than 30 firefighters and special mountain units, along with drones and a helicopter, took part in the extensive search.
All four bodies were close together
Searchers located the hikers’ bodies high on a steep slope at around 2,000m. They were partially buried under dense snow. All four were found close together, with some reports describing them as huddled together, suggesting they had had no time to react to the sudden slide.
Recovery operations continued through Saturday. One body was airlifted by helicopter from the difficult-to-access site. Teams are now trying to move the other bodies to a nearby plateau so that they can be more easily airlifted out of the area.
“If the helicopter is unable to reach the area, we will descend on foot, together with firefighters and mountain guides,” Haris Asariotakis of the Hellenic Rescue Team told the BBC.