A body has been found during a search for two British hikers who have been missing for a week in the Italian mountain range of the Dolomites.
Aziz Ziriat, 36, and Samuel Harris, 35, from London, had sent messages home on January 1 from Trentino, Italy.
However, they did not check in to take their flight home on January 6.
Currently, Alpine Rescue, Guardia di Finanza Rescue, Carabinieri and the local fire brigade are involved in the search, although, as a result of recent snowfall, teams have said that it is challenging to reach the location.
Police have revealed that the two missing men were last seen in the San Valentino Valley, which is near a mountain hut named Casina Dosson at the base of Mount Care Alto.
The alpine rescue service has said that the body was discovered in deep snow at an altitude of 2,600 metres.
Ziriat's girlfriend Rebecca Dimmock described the duo as "experienced hikers", telling the BBC: "They wanted to do a New Year's hike. They wanted to go from hut to hut throughout the Dolomites.
"They were planning on going off-grid, so that's not unexpected at all.
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"I think they wanted to have some nights where they were out in nature and in fresh air and sleeping in the wild. They have all the gear and they've done hikes before.
"But they also wanted to get into the huts and have fires and drink red wine because it was New Year's, which they did do, because he did message me at one point and he was carrying a log up the mountain to one of the huts.
"I know they made it to the hut, and they were drinking red wine, but he said it was freezing," Dimmock added.
Officials are continuing the search for the two hikers, while alpine rescue teams have deployed sniffer dogs to help the effort.
The search has been put on pause overnight, although poor weather conditions have hindered the operation.
A massive search and rescue operation was launched after the pair missed their flight home on Monday, as approximately 25 alpine rescue experts, firefighters and police search the surrounding areas near the Adamello mountain range.
The officials' discovery of the body has followed the rescue service's confirmation that it had found rucksacks and possessions of the London hikers at the Malga Dosson refuge in the Dolomites.
The rescue service said that, since the hikers' possessions were found back at their accommodation, it indicated that they both had planned to return to the refuge after their outing.
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Aziz Ziriat, 36, and Samuel Harris, 35, from London, had sent messages home on January 1 from Trentino, Italy.
However, they did not check in to take their flight home on January 6.
Currently, Alpine Rescue, Guardia di Finanza Rescue, Carabinieri and the local fire brigade are involved in the search, although, as a result of recent snowfall, teams have said that it is challenging to reach the location.
Police have revealed that the two missing men were last seen in the San Valentino Valley, which is near a mountain hut named Casina Dosson at the base of Mount Care Alto.
The alpine rescue service has said that the body was discovered in deep snow at an altitude of 2,600 metres.
Ziriat's girlfriend Rebecca Dimmock described the duo as "experienced hikers", telling the BBC: "They wanted to do a New Year's hike. They wanted to go from hut to hut throughout the Dolomites.
"They were planning on going off-grid, so that's not unexpected at all.
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"I think they wanted to have some nights where they were out in nature and in fresh air and sleeping in the wild. They have all the gear and they've done hikes before.
"But they also wanted to get into the huts and have fires and drink red wine because it was New Year's, which they did do, because he did message me at one point and he was carrying a log up the mountain to one of the huts.
"I know they made it to the hut, and they were drinking red wine, but he said it was freezing," Dimmock added.
Officials are continuing the search for the two hikers, while alpine rescue teams have deployed sniffer dogs to help the effort.
The search has been put on pause overnight, although poor weather conditions have hindered the operation.
A massive search and rescue operation was launched after the pair missed their flight home on Monday, as approximately 25 alpine rescue experts, firefighters and police search the surrounding areas near the Adamello mountain range.
The officials' discovery of the body has followed the rescue service's confirmation that it had found rucksacks and possessions of the London hikers at the Malga Dosson refuge in the Dolomites.
The rescue service said that, since the hikers' possessions were found back at their accommodation, it indicated that they both had planned to return to the refuge after their outing.
Find Out More...