Three dead in mountain drama

6 May 2004

GRANADA – Three Dutch pensioners died of hypothermia after getting lost on the Sierra Nevada mountain range, police said Thursday.

One man and two women died after they got lost in bad weather during the trip near Granada in Andalusia, southern Spain.

Seven others were also missing but later found after a search in the Parque de Sierra Nevada.

One woman has suffered serious injuries and two others are still missing.

One pensioner died shortly after she was rescued. The bodies of a man and woman were discovered Thursday after an extensive search.

The drama started late Wednesday, when the group had arranged to meet at a refuge in Poqueira.

When they still had not arrived at 9pm, police were informed and a search was mounted for the missing climbers.

With strong winds and heavy snows, rescuers found five people at 4.30am Thursday at Alto del Chorrillo.

Three others were found nearby 45 minutes later.

They were suffering from severe hypothermia.

Rescue services said a woman, who was thought to be in her 50s, died shortly afterwards.

A 69-year-old woman who is in a serious condition could not be evacuated because of the adverse weather conditions.

Other members of the group were not able to walk due to exhaustion.

The rescue teams were Thursday hoping a helicopter could reach them and take the injured mountaineers to a hospital.

Rescue teams said none of the group knew the area well and many were “of an advanced age”.

They had arranged to go on the trip, climbing at altitudes of up to 2,500m, through a Dutch firm called Intertrek.

A local police officer was said to have advised the group not to go on the excursion due to the bad weather conditions.

[Copyright EFE with Expatica]

Subject: Spanish + Dutch news