Search begins for two British hikers missing in Dolomite mountains, northern Italy

A search and rescue mission has been launched for two British men who went missing on New Year's Day on a hiking trip.

Samuel Harris, 35, and Aziz Ziriat, 36, from London were last heard from on January 1 when they sent messages home. They have not been heard from since. They failed to check in to their flight home on January 6.

According to the BBC, Alpine Rescue, Guardia di Finanza Rescue, police and the local fire brigade are all involved in the search but, owing to recent snowfall, teams are having difficulty reaching the area.

The two men have been described as experienced hikers who wanted to go off grid for the holidays.

Rebecca Dimmock, Ziriat’s girlfriend, told the BBC: “They wanted to do a new year’s hike. They wanted to go from hut to hut throughout the Dolomites.

"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."

Dimmock explained that the pair had planned to stay in huts and “have fires and drink red wine”, and reported that Ziriat had messaged her as he was carrying a log up a mountain to a hut.

"I know they made it to the hut, and they were drinking red wine, but he said it was freezing.”

Phone dies

Dimmock said that she last spoke to Aziz Ziriat at about 10:00 GMT on New Year’s Day, when he sent photos of the mountains and a couple of himself to her. He said his phone was about to die but that he’d be in touch again soon.

A few hours later she reported that her messages were no longer being received.

"His phone had obviously died at that point, or he was out of range," she said.

Friends of the pair are flying out to help local authorities coordinate the search effort. They have an idea of the route and want to ensure huts along it are being checked.

They were near Tione Di Trento, near Rival Del Garda, on Lake Garda.

Hiking without large packs

According to the Daily Mail, which has published a video of the hikers, their last known location was near a mountain hut named Casina Dosson, close to the town of Tione Di Trento, near Lake Garda.

They awoke to blue skies and brilliant sunshine and were planning to hike up into a 3,000m mountain. They were going to leave their large, heavy packs behind for the day, before “schlepping over to the next valley”.

• 12 things I wish I'd known before my first winter mountain hike
• I’m an experienced hiker and mountaineer – here’s how I update my hiking kit for winter
• How to warm up after a cold day on the trails or in the mountains