Body of missing UK hiker found in Italian Alps after vanishing on New Year's Day
Aziz Ziriat, 36, vanished during a hiking trip in the Italian Dolomites with pal Samuel Harris, 35 - Samuel's body was found back in January but Aziz's remains were found on Saturday
The body of a Brit who went missing on New Year's Day while hiking in the Italian Dolomites has been found.
Aziz Ziriat, 36, from London went missing alongside his friend Samuel Harris, 25, at the beginning of the year. A massive search was launched after the pair were not heard from since January 1, reports the Mirror. His body was found this morning and the Trentino Alpine and Speleological Rescue team are now working to recover his remains.
The pair were known to have been near the town of Tione Di Trento, near Riva Del Garda, on Lake Garda, before they vanished. The alarm was raised after the pair stopped responding to messages and failed to get on their flight back to the UK on January 6.
Samuel's body was tragically found back in January, after his body had been buried under metres of deep snow. The search for the pair was complicated by poor weather conditions and heavy snow at high altitudes.
Search teams discovered items belonging to Aziz, including his mobile phone and a card, not far from his friends body, in January. Despite this, the dozens of rescuers involved in the search were not able to find the 36-year-old at the time.
Rescuers were hopeful the snow melting in the spring and summer would aid the search for Aziz. The operation to find his body is being coordinated by the Italian Guardia di Finanza and is ongoing.
The pair had travelled to The Dolomites to hike between huts in the mountain range for a New Year's trip abroad. After the initial search for the friends began, Aziz's girlfriend described the pair as "experienced hikers", but revealed she had last spoken to her boyfriend at around 10am on New Year's Day.
Rebecca Dimmock also shared her boyfriend's last messages to her before the pair were not heard from again. In January, she said: "He sent some photos of the mountains and a couple of himself. He said his phone was about to die but he would write back to me properly soon."
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She also revealed more details about the friends' hiking plans. Rebecca added: "I know they made it to the hut, and they were drinking red wine, but he said it was freezing."
A video, at the time, showed Aziz preparing to hike the mountain range on New Year's Day with Samuel. He filmed the mountain range he planned to scale and a shelter it was believed the pair stayed overnight.
Aziz had worked for Crystal Palace at the club's official Palace For Life charity. The Premier League club put out a post to appeal for information when he initially went missing.
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