Four hikers who went missing on Christmas Day have been found dead after being buried by an avalanche in the snow-covered Vardousia Mountains in central Greece.
The bodies of three men and a woman were found on Friday evening following a large-scale search in the mountainous region of Fokida, according to Greek state broadcaster ERT.
Fire service teams located the bodies partially covered by snow on a steep and inaccessible slope near the summit of Korakas peak, at an altitude of about 2,000m (6,561ft). Rescue officials reported that the group was swept away by an avalanche.
Authorities noted that the hikers had begun their ascent in favorable weather, but conditions quickly worsened due to the altitude and the region's challenging terrain.
Vasilis Vathrakogiannis, a spokesperson for the Hellenic Fire Service, informed the BBC that the alert was raised by a friend of the three men after they failed to return at the expected time.
Weather conditions were extremely difficult, with low temperatures and poor visibility, he said, adding that this hampered the efforts of both drones and helicopters to locate the hikers.
A fire service ground team eventually found the bodies of the three men and the woman, a friend of one of them who had unexpectedly joined the climb.
Recovery efforts continued on Saturday, which officials described as an extremely challenging operation. One body was successfully airlifted by helicopter, while efforts are ongoing to retrieve the remaining three, requiring a descent on foot alongside firefighters and mountain guides due to the location's difficulty.
Haris Asariotakis, head of the Hellenic Rescue Team mission at the scene, explained, It is about three hours from the village of Athanasios Diakos, at an altitude of 2,000m. If the helicopter is unable to reach the area, we will descend on foot together with firefighters and mountain guides.
Additional reporting by Kostas Koukoumakas
