Rescuers search for 2 British hikers missing since New Year’s Day in Italian alps

ROME (AP) — Dense fog and avalanche warnings hampered rescue crews searching on Wednesday for two British hikers who have been missing in the Italian alps near Trento since Jan. 1.

Italy’s Alpine rescue service said it only received an alert about the men on Jan. 6, five days after the men set out, after they failed to make a scheduled flight home and relatives contacted authorities.

British media have quoted relatives and partners of the two men, Aziz Ziriat, 36, and Sam Harris, 35, as saying they were experienced hikers who had planned a New Year’s Day excursion, hiking from mountain hut to mountain hut.

“It wasn’t surprising that they had no signal as they like going off the grid,” said a university friend of Ziriat, Joe Stone.

For the first two days of the search, rescuers were hampered by poor weather conditions that dumped new snowfall throughout the mountains and valleys of the Adamello mountain range.

A helicopter attempted a flyover on Tuesday, but fog and poor visibility forced it to return before reaching the affected valley and the search was suspended, the rescue crews said. Additionally, ground crews of the fire rescue service were unable to work due to high risks of avalanches.

The Adamello range straddles Italy’s Lombardy and Trentino-Alto Adige regions and includes the highest peak, Mt. Adamello, at 3,539 meters (11,611 feet.)

“We’re all waiting anxiously and the next few hours are crucial,” Stone told the PA news agency.