'Heartbroken' family of British hiker, 36, pay tribute after his body was found in rocky crevice just metres from friend in the Italian mountains

Daily Mail​

3 days ago

The family of a British hiker who died with his friend in the Dolomites have revealed their 'heartbreak' after his body was found.
Aziz Ziriat, 36, and Samuel Harris, 35, were hiking in the Italian mountains when they vanished on New Year's Day without a trace, sparking a major search operation.
On Saturday, Mr Ziriat's body was discovered in a rocky crevice about 400-metres below where Mr Harris' body was found almost five months earlier.
His grieving family said: 'Whilst we are relieved to have finally found him, there are no words to describe how heartbroken we are to lose our beloved Aziz.'
His relatives added the past few months had been 'incredibly difficult for everyone who knew and loved him'.
'But we have been comforted by the overwhelming love we have received - we will be eternally grateful for everyone's support,' they added.
Mr Harris was found dead just over a week after he went missing, with his body covered under deep layers of snow.
A phone, card, and glasses belonging to Mr Ziriat were all discovered close to Mr Harris' body, but there was no sign of him then.
Aziz Ziriat (left), 36, and his friend Samuel Harris (right), 35, both from London, were hiking in the Dolomites in northern Italy when they vanished without a trace
Paying tribute to his 'optimism, good humour and humility', Mr Ziriat's family added: 'Being with Aziz was to witness his deep connection with and appreciation of life.
'He lived every moment with optimism, good humour and humility; he was, and still is, loved by so many.'
In a video to friends before they vanished, the pair had detailed plans to scale a 3,000-metre mountain on January 1.
But their family and friends became concerned when the two explorers missed their flights back to Britain on January 6 and alerted Italian authorities, who launched an urgent search, which were hampered by heavy snow and strong winds.
The last known location of Mr Ziriat, who worked for Crystal Palace's Palace for Life foundation, and Mr Harris was close to a hut called Casina Dosson, which is near the town of Tione Di Trento, near Riva del Garda, on Lake Garda.
Rescuers on a helicopter search tragically confirmed Mr Harris's body was found 'buried under the snow' at around 2,600m on January 8.
Italy's alpine rescue service said ground teams found his body at the base of the Care Alto peak and suggested he may have fallen from rocks above the spot.
The rescue teams had been searching the area after tracking a 'phone of one of the two mountaineers'.
Following the discovery of Mr Harris's body at 1pm, rescuers and sniffer dogs continued searching for his hiking partner until 1.30pm, when the hunt was called off due to worsening wind and fog.
An investigation is under way into the circumstances of the incident, a spokesperson said at the time.
Rescuers are pictured on a mountain after the body of Sam Harris was located in the Dolomites
Earlier that day, rescuers said the men's backpacks and equipment were found during a search of a bivouac hut they are believed to have taken refuge in.
The discovery of Mr Harris's body came just hours after Mr Ziriat's girlfriend, Bex Dimmock, said their disappearance 'just doesn't make sense'.
Breaking down in tears on Good Morning Britain, Ms Dimmock said: 'There's just so many different possibilities and scenarios, that's the hardest thing. It doesn't make sense and we don't know what decisions they have made.'
She added: 'They are really experienced, they have been to some really harsh conditions.
'This trip, they had a plan to go hut to hut and if the weather permitted they would sleep outside.
'They did have a nice route planned where they would end up in Lake Garda and have some time in that town before coming back.'
In a separate interview with the BBC, Ms Dimmock said: '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.
'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.'
She added: 'I know they made it to the hut, and they were drinking red wine, but he said it was freezing.'
She said she last spoke to Mr Ziriat at about 10.00am GMT on New Year's Day.
'He sent some photos of the mountains and a couple of himself,' she said. 'He said his phone was about to die but he would write back to me properly soon.'
She said a few hours later, her messages were not being received by Mr Ziriat's phone.
'His phone had obviously died at that point, or he was out of range,' she said.